HMRC Targets Electricians with Tax Safe Plan
by Charlotte Bamber on 05 January 2012
Electricians are the next target for HM Revenue and Customs in a series of campaigns to gather funds from underpaid and unpaid taxes among specific professions. The Electricians Tax Safe Plan (ETSP) will start in February and will encourage electricians to come forward and declare unpaid tax. The scheme will include those under the HMRC definition of an electrician which is ‘anyone who installs, maintains and tests electrical systems, equipment and appliances under stringent safety regulations’.
As yet there are no details on the reduced penalties for voluntary disclosure, but it is expected that the scheme will follow the same rules as the previous Plumbers Tax Safe Plan. Those choosing to take part in HMRC’s Plumbers Tax Safe Plan (PTSP) were issued with a lower tax penalty of between 10% - 20%, rather than a maximum HMRC tax penalty of 100%.
The PTSP resulted in almost 600 people coming forward to notify HMRC of an intention to declare unpaid tax with 383 disclosures received so far. To date this has resulted in nearly £2 million being collected from plumbers unpaid taxes.
Follow up activity by HMRC of those who did not come forward has already lead to nine arrests, in addition nearly a thousand civil cases have been prepared.
John Pointing, Assistant Director, HMRC Criminal Investigation, said:
“These raids and arrests of ‘ghosts’ - people who have not declared income from the work they do - are the culmination of months of work by HMRC.
“We provided a chance for those we have arrested, and the 600 we are investigating, to come forward voluntarily and put things right. These arrests send a clear message that HMRC will take action against those who choose not to come forward and pay the tax they owe.”
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