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New tax clampdown will hit buy-to-let landlords

Ed Bowsher
by Lovemoney Staff Ed Bowsher on 31 May 2012  |  Comments 14 comments

The tax man is launching a new tax clampdown that will hit buy-to-let landlords and street market traders.

New tax clampdown will hit buy-to-let landlords

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC ) has announced six additional ‘tax forces’ as it attempts to raise the tax take by clamping down on tax evaders.

Each tax force will clamp down on particular business types in geographic areas. Here are the main targets:

-          Indoor and outdoor markets in London

-          Taxi drivers in Yorkshire and Nottingham

-          Restaurants in Birmingham and surrounding areas

-          Buy-to-let landlords in East Anglia, London, Yorkshire and the North East.

This follows clampdowns announced earlier this year on ‘direct selling’ reps and ebay traders amongst other businesses.

Exchequer Secretary, David Gauke, said: “We have made it clear that we will not tolerate tax evasion. Everyone needs to pay the taxes they own in full. We are determined to crack down on the minority who choose to break the rules.”

What you should do

If you’ve not been paying as much tax as you should, you should ‘fess up’ to HMRC. You’ll probably treated more leniently if you make the first move rather than wait for the tax man to find you. You could always get advice from an accountant on the best way to do this.

Of course, the majority of people pay all their tax and may be fed up that others aren’t paying their share. If you fall into that category, you may be interested to know that HMRC runs a ‘Tax Evasion Hotline.’

So if you know someone who you think you may be evading tax, you can ring the hotline on 0800 788 887 or get in touch via the HMRC website.

More:  Thousands owed inheritance tax rebate  |  Why all taxes must rise by 16%!

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Comments (14)

  • 99point99
    Love rating 3
    99point99 said

    Hey, I have got a idea where HMRC can look to find tax dodgers - they're called 'The Conservatives' and you can find them in parliament! Just across the road!

    Failing that, anyone who actually works in government would be suspect - the multitude that get paid as 'contractors' but who actually work for the same company ie. Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems etc. 9-5 just like normal employees and get paid tax-free into so-called 'private company accounts' would raise a good few million I imagine. Happy hunting!

    Report on 01 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  3 loves
  • electricblue
    Love rating 643
    electricblue said

    @99point99

    Anyone who runs a company is paid as an employee. That would not apply to any MP's for their work as MP's so what is your puerile point? The choice of being fully self employed or working through a company, corporation or whatever has always been there and there are good liability reasons why many would want to work the latter way. Almost all actors, footballers and musicians work through a limited company or companies, so learn some facts and be careful what you wish for.

    Report on 01 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  1 love
  • ronat42
    Love rating 62
    ronat42 said

    That's a bit hard on Conservatives. Just about everyone who does not rely on normal employment is at it to some extent. It's a national sport to such an extent that those who do evade (or avoid) tax do not consider that they are doing anything wrong and accountants are complicit in just about every stage of it. It is fair to say that a lot of it is due to tax 'avoidance' but that is mainly down to a multitude of loopholes which make it difficult to pursue the perpetrators who are usually those who benefit from obscenely high incomes anyway. I know at least one person with a 6 figure income who pays little or no tax with the help of a good accountant and it's all legal, or at least most of it is.Why not devote more effort into removing loopholes and chasing the likes of Vodafone and Barclays together with the shareholders who benefit from their devious tactics. Those two alone could probably knock a penny or 2 off the basic tax rate or at least help those who are still paying tax on a pitiful income.

    Report on 01 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  2 loves
  • Henry-GBG
    Love rating 46
    Henry-GBG said

    Time to switch over to the Single Tax. You can Google it.

    Report on 01 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • Mike10613
    Love rating 600
    Mike10613 said

    I think the HMRC should target certain professions and trades so they can investigate and get some idea of the problem over the whole of the country. They should however check why some larger businesses pay little tax too. They are also far more polite to people employed in larger companies. I know one managing director of a medium sized company who was harassed by HMRC just because they had suspicions and checked all sorts of trivial expenses. I have always found them very helpful personally and so I assume some of their investigators can be over zealous. They should assume innocence until they can prove guilt.

    Report on 01 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • bengilda
    Love rating 78
    bengilda said

    It cuts two ways. When a worker doing a "little tax fiddle" sees the very high salaries paid to politicians in both Houses and the perks, grants and allowances added then there is no feeling of guilt or desire to pay up. There must be financial restraint and discipline within the political class and within the higher levels of the Civil Service and all other taxpayer funded bodies to recognise that they are not contributing to the nation's GDP and their remuneration should be governed by that fact.

    No public funded person should be permitted by law to be paid in excess of £104,000 CPI linked and no public funded pensions, including the State Retirement Pension, should exceed £30,000 in total.

    Only when taxpayers see the profligate "top" reined in will there be any willingness at all to pay one's dues.

    Report on 01 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • Skintsod
    Love rating 32
    Skintsod said

    Ironically HMRC are also known to be bent. They have acknowledged in the past that they go after easy marks, even when they know that they don't owe any tax. Then there's the small matter of having a vested interest. Every extra pound, owed or not, means they are supporting their own fat pensions and salaries.

    Of course if this country instituted a straight sales tax (excluding food and children's clothing) instead of income tax then we could do away with most of them and thus save money. Which is probably why that idea will almost certainly never see the light of day. Government exists to empower itself - not the people.

    Report on 01 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • electricblue
    Love rating 643
    electricblue said

    If we are going to prevent talented individuals from earning above a certain amount if paid by the state, regardless of the budgets they control, can we also have some restrictions on the ugly numpties who kick a bag of wind around and are paid obscene amounts of money for a talent which is of zero benefit to the wider society?

    Report on 02 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  4 loves
  • Mike10613
    Love rating 600
    Mike10613 said

    @skintsod, indirect taxation like VAT would be better, although that too is avoided but by a smaller number of businesses. It would be easier with a simplified tax system to police the system and bring an end to abuse. A new system of VAT and a luxury rate of VAT for luxury cars, etc. would work.

    @electricblue, I like that idea too. Could we extend it to people who play with their balls for hours on golf courses too. Then there are people who run around for no apparent reason and expect the taxpayer to have Olympics for them to show how well they do it. People riding around on horses to see which one's fastest doesn't seem to serve a useful purpose either.

    I don't understand why the government taxes petrol and diesel so much to discourage us from driving our cars, then puts annual taxes on top of that only to then build even more roads at a cost of billions for us to drive on! I have a suspicion that everyone in Westminster isn't quite normal though...

    Report on 08 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • jt
    Love rating 4
    jt said

    Surely it would be better for the tax man to manage on less? (Like we are supposed to do now.) Considering the waste of "easy come easy go" stories, and the billions of pounds which they dispose of yearly, then a more stringent use of the money we have already would be more productive than spending yet even more money chasing dodgers; a service that is forever an ongoing work in progress. www.mycall.mobi.

    Report on 08 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  1 love
  • electricblue
    Love rating 643
    electricblue said

    Golf doesn't appeal to me in the least, though I confess an interest as I invested in a home on a golf course development in the USA - but I can't put golf and golfers in the same category as footballers simply because they don't get paid salaries and their sport is not a burden to the police and general taxpayers. Add together the taxes lost from all the football clubs which have gone bust owing money to the Inland Revenue and there is a pretty good case against football being a sport which the majority of the population who can't stand it should not be subsidising.

    Report on 08 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  1 love
  • T5P8
    Love rating 33
    T5P8 said

    You'll never undo the tangle of laws and deception by grumbling on her. Joining the OCCUPY MOVEMENT is currently our only hope. But we won't will we?

    Report on 08 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • OorWullie
    Love rating 38
    OorWullie said

    Why not simply make all taxes purchase tax; if we can afford it we buy it and if we cannot afford it we do not buy; so simple. We might then be able to save for our pensions.

    Report on 08 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • yocoxy
    Love rating 132
    yocoxy said

    This clampdown won't hit the majority of buy to let landlords who already pay the tax due..

    I think the headline could have been "New tax clampdown hits those that avoid paying tax due"

    No doubt the comments would have still headed off down the predictable path of bashing politicians and anyone who earns a high salary. Hardly the point that was being made in the article but it suits the 'loves' collectors..

    Report on 09 June 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

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