Nearly half-a-million paid to informants last year
Figures obtained by The Telegraph reveal that HMRC informants have increased in their thousands over two years.
Each day, more than 250 people are contacting HMRC to report suspected tax avoidance or fraud, with embittered and aggrieved former spouses and employees making up the lion’s share of the whistleblowers.
As well as wreaking vengeance, tipping off the Revenue can also reap financial rewards. For those who use HMRC’s hotline cash sums ranging from £50 – £1,000 are paid out if the information brings about a “big win” from a wealthy individual.
Whilst every call to the hotline is investigated, only a fraction of the 97,036 ‘grasses’ in 2013 were recompensed. That said however, a record £402,160 was paid out, representing a 30% increase in payouts over the last 3 years.
A spokesman for HMRC told The Telegraph that rewarding informants who provide “valuable information” via its hotlines was “appropriate in certain occasions to tackle those who cheat the system.” He went on to say, “The payment of rewards is at the discretion of HMRC” and that “The awards are based on what is achieved as a direct result of the information provided and a range of factors determine the amount. The factors include the tax recovered, the estimate of the loss of revenue prevented and other measurable benefits such as the time saved in working the compliance cases.”
Based on the hotlines perceived success, might HMRC be tempted to introduce a more tempting whistleblower system similar to that used in the U.S.A, where the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) pays it informants up to 30% of the tax and penalties it collects.
scum – you reap what you sow