Tax taskforce to target hauliers in the Midlands HMRC HAS
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put together a taskforce to target more than 200 hauliers in the Midlands that it believes are dodging tax.
The specialist team of investigators visit company premises to examine their records and look for evidence of tax evasion.
HMRC said its target is to recover £3.5m, based on an average yield of £15,000 per case. This means about 233 haulage firms will be under scrutiny in the Midlands.
"Our message is clear — if you seek to evade tax or defraud the tax system, HMRC can, and will, track you down," said Jennie Granger, HMRC director general, enforcement and compliance.
"You will face not only a heavy fine, but possibly a criminal prosecution as well."
An HMRC spokeswoman told CM that more taskforces will be set up in future. "The industry as a whole has widespread cross-tax risks; we are not saying one region is any greater than another," she said.
"We are going to be looking at targeting other regions across the country, and not necessarily the same wide-spread cross-tax risks in the industry as the Midlands.
"We will be working with other government departments and looking at [things like] red diesel and no 0-licences.
"Businesses that are compliant have nothing to fear from this taskforce, only those that are breaking the law."
Nick Payne, Road Haulage Association Midlands regional director, said: "The RHA would expect any industry to operate legally and within the confines of tax law."