The UK will be Increasing Fines for Tax Evaders
The UK will soon be increasing penalties for those failing to pay taxes due on money in offshore banks, and will also be levying large fines on companies who try to evade taxes, along with those who help them.
These new plans come as a response to the controversy caused by disclosures that HSBC had helped wealthy individuals evade billions of dollars in taxes.
The chief secretary said that “the public will not tolerate being stolen from any more”, and also mentioned that the tax system has struggled for too long, due to a small minority feeling that it’s perfectly ok to avoid tax and commit the crime of tax evasion.
The treasury will consult about its plan to introduce new strict liability criminal offences, although when the proposal was first put forward in 2014 it was criticised by the Law Society who thought it would damage the right to a fair trial.
What is obvious though, is that the UK will be increasing fines for tax evaders, and has recently £100 billion after tougher collection efforts.