UK Tax Crackdown to Target Middle Class

Middle-class professionals are to be targeted in a new crackdown on tax evasion promised by the chief prosecutor of England and Wales.

The Crown Prosecution Service will dramatically ramp up the number of tax evasion cases it takes on – with a view to prosecution – over the next two years, Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, told the Financial Times. The CPS will increase five fold the number of tax files it handles, to 1,500 a year by 2014-15.

This compares with 200 tax convictions the CPS secured in 2010 – its current conviction rate for tax cases stands at 86 percent.

Tax consultants who push dishonest avoidance schemes – and the professionals who invest in them – are central targets in the strategy.

"There have been some cases involving lawyers, some involving tax consultants, and plumbers," Mr Starmer said in an interview. "Within the ramped-up volume, it's intended that we will select cases to send a clear message as to the breadth of our coverage." Read more >>