A West Midlands fraudster has been jailed for two years, after illegally living tax free for six years.
Abdul Rehman, from Solihull, failed to pay any tax on his £3 million online business and produced fake invoices when HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) tax investigators began looking into his finances.
Rehman ran an online office supplies business from his home but did not register with HMRC and failed to pay any income tax, National Insurance or VAT during a six-year period.
Following the tax investigation, he was given an opportunity to declare his tax debt through HMRC’s Contractual Disclosure Facility (CDF). However, he chose to ignore their 60-day deadline and court proceedings were then launched.
He was jailed for two years at Birmingham Crown Court and confiscation proceedings are now underway to recover the money owed to HMRC.
Following the hearing, Paul Maybury, Assistant Director of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “Rehman had the chance to put his tax affairs in order but he chose jail instead.
“We try and give people a chance to put their affairs in order, but if they refuse to, we will take firm action.
Dr Anjulika Salhan, a Director and Head of Salhan Accountants’ taxation investigation team, commented: “HMRC’s inspectors have extensive powers in cases of deliberate tax fraud.
“If HMRC provides an opportunity for full disclosure under their CDF scheme, anyone who has failed to pay their taxes should take advantage of this last opportunity to come clean, or face the very real prospect of a custodial sentence.”
She added: “Only a minority of individuals intentionally set out to defraud HMRC, but there are many people who find that they have unwittingly broken HMRC’s tax rules and are shocked to discover that they are under the spotlight of a tax investigation.
“At Salhan Accountants, our team work extremely hard for clients subjected to a tax investigation. We not only clarify the issues and the process, but come up with solutions too.”
For more information about our taxation investigation services, please contact us.
