Political leaders ponder amnesty for landlords who owe taxes
A group of British MPs are considering a new piece of legislation which would offer buy-to-let landlords who partially evaded their taxation payments in the past the opportunity make amends by paying in full during a pre-determined grace period, instead of facing financial penalties or legal action on the part of HM Revenue & Customs. This amnesty period would be coupled with the launch of an information campaign, which would explain to buy-to-let landlords, as well as other entrepreneurs or contractors considered to be “high-risk” when it comes to filing inaccurate or incomplete tax returns—such as lawyers, doctors and television actors—why paying taxes are crucial and what consequences they face should they fail to submit a complete dossier. The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee recently released figures which showed that two million Brits have at least partially evaded taxation over the past year.
These findings have led some MPs involved on the Committee to call for stiffer fines and legal penalties for those who are caught having filed incomplete tax papers. There is also some concern that the growing number of homeowners who in recent months have been “forced” into the buy-to-let sector due to falling house prices may be unsure about their tax obligations. As such, a government led information campaign and an opportunity for those who have failed to make full tax payments in the past to correct their record without any repercussions are seen by some political leaders as the best options available.
This issue is especially pressing for government officials, since the vast majority of people who evaded taxation have never been caught and even those who are uncovered by tax inspectors usually face relatively minor financial penalties.