Contractor accountants may get inundated with calls from private tutors and coaches after HMRC announced its latest clampdown on tax evaders.
The Tax Catch up Plan comes hot on the heels of other recent clampdowns on plumbers, medical professions and people who should have registered to pay VAT. The TCP specifically targets individuals who have not declared the income they have received from giving private lessons.
Academic tutors, as well as personal fitness coaches and dance instructors, now have until the end of March next year to declare and pay any unpaid tax for the years leading up to the fifth of April 2010.
HMRC says that anyone who comes forward by the March deadline will be unlikely to receive a penalty of more than 20% of the tax owing. However, after the deadline has passed, the Revenue will investigate the tax affairs of people who have not made a voluntary disclosure and they could face much steeper penalties. The maximum fine for tax evasion is 100% of the tax owed, and the worst case scenario could see offenders also facing criminal prosecution.
In order to take advantage of the TCP disclosure facility, tutors and coaches must register their intent with the Revenue no later than January 6th 2012. They will then have until the 31st of March to tell HMRC how much they owe, and pay it along with any penalties and interest that may be due.
HMRC has issued the following registration phone number – 0845-601-8817, which is open from 08:00 – 19:30, Monday to Friday, for people wishing to register their intent to make a full disclosure under the plan.
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Image: bs-v-folie-1-gruppe-tutor by algogenius
