HMRC targets horsebox owners
Latest target in crackdown on tax evasion.
Horsebox owners are the latest targets of HM Revenue & Customs investigation teams, as part of its crackdown on tax evasion.
According to accountancy firm James Cowper Kreston, the taxman believes that the line is being blurred between business and personal use, and as a result not enough tax is being paid.
It suspects farmers and rural businesses of buying the horsebox through their company, falsely claiming it as a business expense, or failing to declare personal use of the horsebox and paying tax on it as a ‘benefit in kind’.
Fiona Hawkins, a senior manager at the firm, said that large equine firms make significant investment in horseboxes and are likely to account for their use correctly. Instead it’s those farming or rural businesses which mix business use with taking their children’s ponies to a weekend show that the taxman will be cracking down on.
Hawkins argued that the taxman is unlikely to punish honest mistakes – you’ll just have to repay the tax you owe. However, if you mislead HMRC you could be hit with an additional penalty of anything from 20% to 100%.
Officials even use the likes of Google Street View and DVLA records to monitor the lifestyles of suspected tax evaders, according to the firm.
While any recovered tax is likely to be relatively small in the grand scheme of things, this latest campaign does suggest that the taxman is taking cracking down on deliberate evaders seriously.
There have also been campaigns aimed at recovering unpaid tax from medical professionals, plumbers, electricians and landlords.
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@MELDREWREBORN. Try getting real. If these hypocrites want to start chasing tax evaders then let them risk getting the sack, and start at the top. There is plenty, from the royals, government ministers and speakers down, for them to get their teeth into, long before they start persecuting the average man in the street with his horse box, or worse the self employed or, to be exact the true UK wealth creators. If it wasn't for the self employed then really the government could sack HMRC down because they really would have no one to persecute with their penalties and time limits. So think on HMRC don't bite the hand that funds your sick days, holidays and fat pensions.
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As somebody who is very careful about ensuring my tax affairs are 100% legal, I don't have much sympathy with anyone evading tax. So I'm all for this campaign. But I really don't think that it's much more than a warning shot across the bows of the evaders. The aim is to get those who are basically honest to be that bit more honest and pay what's due. The real tough nuts will carry on much as before knowing that the likelihood of actually getting caught is miniscule. And for the "stop picking on the small guys" posters here, how many small guys own a horse and a horsebox? Just think it through!
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That's it. Crack down on the small people you bloody bullies. The ones without the resources to fight back. Scoop up maybe a few hundred thousand pound (with penalties), and let the likes of Amazon, Google, Starbucks and Tesco of with hundred of millions. Yes indeed that's the way to show your support for hard working families.
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19 May 2015