Tax evasion

Since the start of the financial crisis, HMRC has paid out over £1m to whistleblowers who provide information about tax evaders.

Typical HMRC informers include former business partners of evaders, former spouses and employees, as well as people reporting ‘someone bragging in the pub’ and ‘warring neighbours’, the spokesman said. An informer’s identity is generally kept confidential, although it may have to be disclosed in certain legal proceedings.

An HMRC spokesman said that payments to members of the public who provided information about tax evasion were made at HMRC’s discretion and depend on ‘the value of the information and the quality of the result’, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Figures released by HMRC, under the Freedom of Information Act, to the investigative website Exaro show payments have gone up by a fifth in the last year, rising to £374,000 in 2011/12 and were double the amount paid out five years ago. In comparison HMRC paid out £309,620 in 2010/11, £384,110 in 2009/10, £281,000 in 2008/09, and £155,950 in 2007/08