HMRC force websites to spill the beans
Three years ago HMRC ran a campaign that offered online marketplace traders a time limited opportunity to come clean and pay any additional tax rather than wait for HMRC to catch up with them.
The e-Markets Disclosure Facility was aimed at people using online marketplaces to buy and sell goods as a trade or business but who failed to pay tax on their profits. That campaign raised more than £9 million and led to John Woolfenden of Manchester, being imprisoned for 2 years following his failure to pay almost £300,000 tax on his undeclared eBay turnover of £1.4 million, amassed over 6 years.
Now the Revenue are chasing down 14,000 individuals that the department suspects are evading tax on their internet trading activities. Using its information powers, HMRC are forcing the likes of eBay, Etsy, Amazon and Gumtree to hand over customer account details, including their selling activity.
According to reports in the Daily Telegraph, HMRC have sent out letters to the 14,000 they suspect of online trading and failing to include their income on their tax returns, with 1,000 of those detailing undeclared income. Some of the recipients have made as little as £100 profit from selling items online which is in contrast to the 2012 campaign when HMRC confirmed that anyone only selling a few items and who was not a trader, would be unlikely to be liable to tax on what they sell and was not targeted by that campaign.
Those who register their account as ‘business seller’ on websites such as Amazon and eBay are most susceptible to fall under the gaze of HMRC.
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