UK government to name and shame tax cheats
The UK government will officially introduce a scheme to name and shame tax cheats from 1 April 2010 with the first names likely to be made public on 1 April 2011. While only those who have deliberately attempted to evade tax in excess of £25,000 in the new tax year will be named and shamed, it could be the beginning of a similar program for lower-level "tax cheats".
This legislation was mentioned in the last budget but it is only this week that the government has confirmed a start date of 1 April 2010. While the fact that names will be published on the Treasury website will cause some embarrassment, in reality it will be the potential fines that tax evaders will be open to which will cause real financial pain.
The UK government began a sustained program to close various tax loopholes some months ago which has involved governments around the world. So far the UK authorities have netted additional tax income in the hundreds of millions of pounds and indeed it will top £1 billion in due course. This comes at a time when the government needs every penny it can get, with honest UK taxpayers having to take the strain.
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