Dave Hartnett says that householders have a duty to ensure others don't evade tax

[AtW]

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Dave Hartnett says that householders have a duty to ensure that other people do not evade paying their share of tax.

Paying a builder or cleaner in cash, allowing them to evade VAT or income tax, will result in even deeper government cuts to public services, he says. People who contribute to the cash economy cannot then complain about austerity measures, he adds.

“Tax provides the funding to run the country: hospitals, schools and everything else,” he says. “Every time someone pays cash in order not to pay VAT, the nation gets diddled.”

Speaking to a newspaper for the first time in 18 months, Mr Hartnett, the Permanent Secretary for Tax at HMRC, signals a major clampdown on the very rich.

Tax inspectors are building up a “head of steam” to raise billions of pounds by closing loopholes that are exploited by rich people, he says.

Source: Paying cash in hand is 'diddling the country', says HMRC's Dave Hartnett - Telegraph

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I wonder what he thinks leads people to condone tax dodging? Could it be the knowledge that after spending a lot of time in with big company bosses one Dave Hartnett presided over a regime that let said outifts off a load of tax? Or maybe that one Dave Harnett popped up on tv and radio about the most recent HMRC cock-up and was utterly unapologetic and unrepentant - and only apologised later when someone had a word in his ear?

[Alf W]

When the discredited tosser stops letting off companies like Vodafone from billions of pounds worth of tax they should have paid in cosy little deals signed off after lavish lunches then I'll stop paying handymen cash in hand to save a bit of VAT.

Utter tw@t.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

When the discredited tosser stops letting off companies like Vodafone from billions of pounds worth of tax they should have paid in cosy little deals signed off after lavish lunches then I'll stop paying handymen cash in hand to save a bit of VAT.

Utter tw@t.

:-) Are you my brother ?

Seriously though - isn't it amazing that people like Hartnett can't see they are part of the problem?

[xoggoth]

All tax is wasted. Have I said that before? Nah!!

[BrilloPad]

HMRC believe all taxpayers are guilty until proven innocent.

[wobbegong]

Paying someone in cash is both legal and morally correct. Whether the recipient then chooses to declare the tax is not something you can control.

[DodgyAgent]

Paying someone in cash is both legal and morally correct. Whether the recipient then chooses to declare the tax is not something you can control.

Until these people learn to stop wasting such vast amounts of money and using it socially engineer people into welfare then we have a moral obligation to make it as difficult as possible for them to raise it

[original PM]

Hmm this thread seems to have stirred a few people up - and would appear most people do not see eye to eye with Mr Hartnett...

[cojak]

Classic fail on this one.

He's forgotten this first rule of tax.

Everyone is against other people paying less than their 'fair' amount of tax.

Unless it's themselves doing it.

And paying trade people in cash is sometimes the only thing most people do in this matter.