Prosecutions for tax evasion doubles in the UK

The number of criminal prosecutions for tax evasion were up 100 per cent in the UK during the last tax year, even as claims went out that the exchequer had increased its hit-rate by targeting "small time" offenders suspected of defrauding the taxpayer.

Successful prosecutions by HM Revenue & Customs stood at 617 for tax evasion during 2012-13, as against the corresponding number of people at 302 in 2011/12, figures obtained by the law firm Pinsent Masons revealed.

The figures though were substantially in excess of HMRC's target of 565 prosecutions for the year, however these come after missing what according to critics, was an artificially low target of 365 in 2011-12.

According to Jason Collins a partner at the law firm, in the space of just one year, HMRC had massively ramped up the number of cases it took to the criminal courts in order to clamp down on tax evasion.

He added,  however, to hit that target and maximise the deterrent effect, HMRC was now taking criminal cases against the kind of tax evaders it would have previously seen as small time.

Collins added this meant criminal cases were being pursued against 'middle class' professionals and trades people who are evading what are relatively small sums of money.

With £917 million set aside in the 2009-10 spending review for tackling evasion, middle class evaders were facing the heat from the crackdown, rather than the super-rich, who it was claimed were harder to prosecute.

The amounts that HMRC might spend on a case prosecution often far outweighed the amount of tax evaded. But according to the HMRC, the spending was justified, as it sent out a hard message to others and would result in less evasion in the future.

According to Collins, those in a position of trust or responsibility, such as lawyers, medical practitioners or business or financial consultants, were increasingly being targeted and there was also evidence of an increase in buy-to-let investors falling foul of the system.

He added, many people saw buy-to-let as a substitute for a pension. He added, it might produce similar financial results but such renters needed to remember they could still incur significant tax liabilities.

He added, for new, part-time landlords who put their buy-to-let properties to the back of their mind to focus on their day job while the money rolled in, it could be quite easy to get caught out.