Is the Taxman looking for you?

Young, male, living in East London and working in the building industry? The taxman is looking for you!

So says Simon Goldie of CIOT.

Young men living in Central or East London who work in the construction industry are the worst in Britain at filing their self-assessment tax returns. The tax authorities are targeting groups such as these to encourage them to file before 31 January 2006. In addition, they are increasingly using heavy financial penalties (up to £60 a day) if people do not file their returns.

Anne Redston, chair of Personal Taxes at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said today “HMRC is getting increasingly sophisticated in its pursuit of taxpayers. When it comes to filing tax returns, they now know that women are better than men, people in East and Central London are worse than people in the rest of the UK, while those in Orkney are the best; of all groups, construction workers are bottom of the class for tax filing. They are using this analytical information to target taxpayers.”

She went on to say that “HMRC are also using the full range of penalties. Those who pushed their brown envelopes behind the breadbin should get them out now. Leaving it to the last minute could be an expensive mistake.”