More people are going to prison for tax evasion in the UK, according to official statistics, although the average length of these jail terms has fallen over the past four years.
It can be seen that HMRC is making broader use of its prosecution powers and pushing for the maximum penalty in a wider range of tax evasion cases. This meant many people who would previously have only been fined were now facing jail.
According to published figures released by HM Revenue & Customs in response to a freedom of information request.
- The total number of tax evaders jailed has risen by 29 per cent, from 171 in 2011, to 220 last year.
- The average time served fell 57 per cent, from 41.3 months in 2011 to 17.7 months in 2014,
Clearly HMRC wants to make examples of tax evaders and it is clamping down on tax evaders from all walks of life and adopting a much more aggressive stance by sending more of them to prison.
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