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26 August 2014 / Jonathan Levy , Loraine Mayo
Issue: 4466 / Categories: Comment & Analysis , Admin , Compliance , Investigations

Tax fraudsters face stiff, US-style sentences

KEY POINTS

  • Tax evasion and avoidance generated little news 25 years ago and prosecutions were rare.
  • Al Capone his business activities and jailing for tax avoidance are long-standing evidence that a different approach may be taken by the authorities.
  • The UK Sentencing Council has produced new guidelines for prison terms for tax evasion false accounting and cheating the public revenue.
  • A trial judge must take account of “culpability” and “harm” caused by the offence.
  • Are the new approach and sentencing guidelines evidence of Americanisation of sentencing for tax crimes?

When a youthful Jonathan Levy first joined the Solicitor’s Office of the Inland Revenue about 25 years ago the terms “tax avoidance” and “tax evasion” stirred absolutely no passion whatsoever in politicians or the public and prosecutions...

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