Taxman recruits fricking tax-collecting robots
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Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is unleashing an army of fricking robots to find VAT evaders and eBay traders.
The robots are the web-spider variety rather than an actual RoboTaxman.
But they will target "invisible tax evasion" by those trading on e-marketplaces and offering private tuition as well as tradesmen like plumbers and electricians.
HMRC said the 'bots will work with its Connect computer system to check various different databases like bank interest, property income and other lifestyle clues. So keep those holiday pictures off Flickr and Facebook, unless you don't mind the taxman knowing where you've been.
The software will look for unexplained discrepancies between what it finds online and what HMRC knows about you.
The Rev said it would be looking at people who offer teaching or coaching as a sideline to their main work as well as full-time coaches.
Similarly it is looking at people using e-marketplaces as traders without paying necessary tax, not those selling a few items on eBay.
HMRC's statement on web-robots is here.
The Rev is launching a summer campaign against those trading over the £73,000 threshold without registering for VAT. ®
COMMENTS
Typical
Target the little people and carry on ignoring the gigantic tax scams being pulled by big corps and their executives.
About time too
All these people that use online selling portals to not only sell their own tat but clearly make a living from it should be paying tax like the rest of us. So many times you can see 10s if not 100s of thousands of comments that clearly indicate this person is a business but registered as an individual.
The tax man should go to Ebay and others and get an inventory of sales and then hit them with income tax.
"perfectly legal and above board"
Perfectly legal, absolutely not: legal, only just, and then NOT because parliament intended the legal provision be used for the avoidance obtained, but because the firms in question spend billion upon billion on teams of lawyers to cook up these schemes.
Above board, most certainly not. Check out the excellent "decision time" episode on r4 last wednesday http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011pkqn/Decision_Time_08_06_2011/
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