HMRC to crack down on retail tax evasion with £7m recovery target

Customs officers have set up a new taskforce to crack down on grocery and retail traders suspected of tax evasion.

HMRC said it expected the taskforce to recover more than £7m. Teams will visit around 500 retailers over the next 12 to 15 months, targeting stores in South Wales, North Wales, the North West and the South West.

The teams will decide which stores to visit based on intelligence and analysis of tax returns.

“Intelligence suggests these areas are at high risk of evasion,” said HMRC enforcement and compliance taskforce project lead Jeremy Stretton. “We’ll be looking at everything - PAYE, VAT, income and corporation tax, and other issues such as tax credit.”