More than 1,000 individuals were referred for prosecutions in relation to tax evasion offences in 2018, the latest statistics reveal.
The finding forms part of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC’s) latest report into tax avoidance and evasion in the UK.
According to the report, some 1,007 prosecutions were referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the 12 months to March 2018.
This represents a five year consecutive rise in prosecutions against individuals believed to be involved in widespread and illegal tax evasion schemes, such as those involving offshore accounts in low tax or zero tax jurisdictions – such as Bermuda and the Cayman Islands – to pay less tax.
The report comes after it was revealed that the tax regulator had opened 27 new investigations into suspected serious tax evasion – defined as cases involving more than £50,000 – at some of the UK’s top businesses.
Commenting on the latest statistics, Brian Peccarelli, CIO of customer markets at Thomson Reuters, believes that we are only just seeing the beginning of HMRC’s comprehensive tax crackdown.
“Prosecutions are up significantly over the last five years and are likely to increase as new data sources filter through.
“At the centre of HMRC’s tax evasion crackdown is an unprecedented data gathering exercise – bringing in far richer information from an increasing range of countries,” he said, adding that HMRC will be using “increasingly sophisticated AI tools to analyse data”.
When asked about the latest statistics, a Government spokesperson said: “Tackling tax avoidance, evasion and unfair outcomes is a priority for this government.
“We’ve been at the forefront of international action to reform global tax rules, using our presidency of the G8 in 2013 to initiate the first substantial renovation of international tax standards in almost a century.”
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