In a sign of the times, David Hartnett, the permanent secretary for tax at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), has today confirmed the release of a video on YouTube targeted at "tax dodgers" in the UK. The government has taken to infiltrating social networking sites to warn the many "tax dodgers" in the UK who are refusing to divulge their total income and therefore escaping often significant tax payments. But will it work?

The truth of the matter is that the UK government is well aware that millions of people in the UK are not declaring all of their income on their tax returns and as such the government is being "short changed". However, it does take time and money to investigate potential tax dodgers so the government has now taken to introducing fear into the marketplace and confirming in general the type of fines and penalties which can be expected. Whether this will work remains to be seen but the truth is that the UK economy has seen more and more people looking to retain more of their income and divulge less and less to the taxman.

It will be interesting to see how successful or unsuccessful this particular online strategy is, as it may become commonplace in other departments.

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