Tax Fraud

Each year Customs and Excise collects more than a third of all the money the Government spends on running the country - over £90 billion. But billions more go uncollected. This is the money that never makes it into vital healthcare and education projects because tax cheats are lining their own pockets. Who are these fraudsters? They can be individuals, corrupt businesses and even major criminal organisations.

It is the task of Customs and Excise to:

• make it as easy as possible for the legitimate companies to pay their VAT, duty and other taxes
  
• make it as difficult as possible for corrupt companies and traders to illegally avoid paying their taxes and cheat the public purse
• Customs and Excise were responsible during the financial year 1999/00 for collecting:
• VAT of around £56 billion
• hydrocarbon oil duty (on petrol and diesel etc) worth around £22 billion
• tobacco and alcohol excise duty, worth around £12 billion
• and about £6 billion worth of other taxes, including betting and gaming duties, customs duties, landfill tax, insurance premium tax and air passenger duty.

This is a massive task, and one that requires customs to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated fraudsters.

A major threat

Is evading tax and duty really a serious crime? Yes. Apart from depriving the Government of vital funds which could go towards vital services like healthcare and education, fraudsters also force honest taxpayers to shoulder an unfair burden. It is the job of Customs and Excise to help prevent this injustice and promote fair and efficient tax collection. Working with other Government Departments such as the Inland Revenue, Customs offer businesses and traders advice about their tax responsibilities and work with them to make it as easy as possible for them to meet their obligations. Customs officers make visits to businesses to check the accuracy of sales and business records. Although Customs and Excise will offer as much support and advice as they can, it is up to the businesses themselves to pay the right tax and duty at the right time.

Customs officers can help resolve genuine mistakes, but will press for tough penalties against deliberate fraudsters.