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Mike Wells, HMRC’s director of Risk and Intelligence, discusses how HMRC campaigns aim to help customers pay what they owe and reduce the tax gap.

We all have to pay our fair share of taxes, especially now when times are tough and every penny is needed for vital public services. At HMRC we are committed to collecting the full amount of tax due from individuals and businesses alike. If everyone pays what they owe, it helps create a level playing field and reduces the tax gap.

Campaigns play an important role in helping us meet these goals by targeting specific areas where we can have a big impact on significant underpayment.

To date HMRC has run five campaigns: two targeting offshore accounts used by some to shield undeclared taxable income; one aimed at doctors and dentists and one (ongoing) campaign targeting the plumbing industry – the Plumbers' Tax Safe Plan. In July we also launched the VAT Initiative to crack down on those who are trading above the £73,000 turnover threshold for VAT but who are not VAT-registered. Over the next few months HMRC will launch campaigns targeting private tutors and e-marketplaces. See HMRC Campaigns for more details.

All campaigns provide a straightforward opportunity for the targeted group to come forward, voluntarily disclose their tax arrears and pay what is owed on the best possible terms within a specified time limit. For example, workers in the plumbing industry who have opted to take advantage of the Plumbers' Tax Safe Plan have until 31 August to make their disclosure of what they owe. Similarly, under the VAT Initiative, companies and individuals who should be VAT-registered have until 30 September to come forward. They will then have until 31 December to make their disclosure and pay what they owe.

Our campaigns are proving a cost-effective way of helping our customers get - and keep - their tax affairs in order. The money brought in so far by campaigns stands at £500m from voluntary disclosures and a further £100m from follow-up activity. Equally importantly, many thousands of people are now paying what they owe year on year.

What is true of all campaigns is that honest taxpayers have nothing to fear. Our aim is not to catch people out. In fact we want to be open about the compliance activity we are carrying out in order to encourage those with outstanding tax liabilities to come forward. To reinforce that, we are seeking input on the design of all future campaigns from people outside HMRC to help make these opportunities as accessible as possible, so we can reach even more of the people who need to use them.

That said, we will come down hard on those who fail to take up the opportunities we provide to put their affairs in order. All campaigns are supported by substantial information on the populations we are targeting. Our Plumbers campaign used “web robot” software to extract details of those offering their services from advertising and exchanges on the internet, as well as gathering data from industry and regulatory bodies. All of this data goes into our ”Connect” data matching technology to alert us to anomalies between such elements as bank interest, property income and lifestyle indicators. So we know a lot about the target population before we start a campaign. Once the deadline for coming forward has passed, HMRC can then target those people and businesses that our analysis shows could have used the opportunity to come forward but did not. Substantial penalties and even prosecution could follow. It works, as demonstrated by the arrests and civil enquiries into plumbers who did not come forward.

For further information on how to contribute to the design of future campaigns see HMRC Campaigns

Those who believe forthcoming campaign activity may apply to them and who want to come forward now and voluntarily disclose can call 0845 601 5041.

[Regular readers will be aware that TaxationWeb is already in discussions with HMRC regarding taxpayers who believe a forthcoming campaign might apply to them but don't want to wait until it 'officially starts' - we'll let you know more soon - TWEd]