Tax evasion whistleblowing up 10% in a year

The number of tax evasion whistleblowing reports made online to HMRC has increased by 10% in a year from 66 000 in 2018-19 to 73 000 in 2019-20 according to figures obtained in a freedom of information request from UHY Hacker Young.

The firm says that furlough scheme fraud is likely to drive up the number of reports even further in the coming year. According to HMRC more than 4 500 employee whistle-blowers had already alerted HMRC to the fact their employer may be abusing the furlough scheme by 1 July.

A further reason for the increase in the number of reports is accountants’ duty to report all potential cases of tax evasion under the ‘failure to prevent tax evasion’ regulations.

Sean Glancy partner at UHY Hacker Young said: ‘Tax evasion whistle-blowers are a vital source of information for HMRC. “On the ground” intelligence is critically...