To help in the effort to hunt down the United Kingdom’s biggest tax fraudsters, HMRC will place photographs of its Most Wanted on its flickr channel and ask members of the public to assist in finding them.
The Most Wanted are tax criminals who have absconded after being charged with a crime or during trial. HMRC has worked with Crimestoppers to gather information from the public that may help capture these criminals and others like them, but this is the first time that HMRC has published photographs and details of tax dodgers’ crimes.
David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary, said:
“The Government is absolutely committed to tackling tax evasion and fraud. These criminals have collectively cost the taxpayer over £765m and HMRC will pursue them relentlessly. We hope that publishing their pictures in this way will enable members of the public to contribute to the effort to catch them.”
Tax evasion and fraud cost the taxpayer around £10bn. The Government is committed to cracking down on those who try to dodge their responsibility to pay tax and has invested over £900m in HMRC in order to raise an additional £7bn each year in tax revenue.
HMRC’s Top 20 Most Wanted can be seen here www.flickr.com/hmrcgovuk
People can report leads on the Most Wanted fugitives via HMRC’s Customs, Excise and VAT fraud reporting hotline on 0800 595 000, by email or post here, or through the Crimestoppers website www.crimestoppers-uk.org
Notes to editors
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2. Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111
3. Images are available on HMRC’s flickr site
www.flickr.com/hmrcgovuk4. Follow us on Twitter @hmrcgovuk
Issued by HM Revenue & Customs Press Office
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Notes to Editors