Skip to content
Back to blog

How To Report Tax Evasion

5 minute read

Financial Crime
How to report tax evasion
Last updated: July 21, 2025

To prevent tax evasion, you must be able to identify it and take action. We unpack everything you need to know about identifying tax evasion and reporting it to the authorities.

Key takeaways

  • Tax evasion involves deliberate dishonesty. This kind of behaviour includes hiding income, falsifying expenses, or submitting false VAT claims. Under UK law, it is considered a serious criminal offence since it undermines economic stability and carries severe legal consequences.
  • Use HMRC’s official reporting channels. HMRC provides a secure online tool and telephone hotline (0800 788 887) for reporting tax evasion. Reports can be made anonymously, and individuals are strongly advised not to investigate the matter themselves.
  • Legal and anonymous reporting protects whistleblowers. You do not need to provide personal details when reporting, and anonymity is respected. This makes it safe to report wrongdoing without risking personal or professional backlash.

Tax evasion, not to be confused with tax avoidance, is the intentional practice of avoiding paying the appropriate amount of tax to HMRC. It is actively harmful to the UK's economy, representing a total loss of £5.5 billion in the 2022-23 financial year, of which 81% was attributed to small businesses.

The laws governing tax evasion make it clear that businesses are responsible not only for accurately reporting and paying tax at the right level but also for preventing the facilitation of tax evasion whenever possible.

See our Financial Crime Training Package

What is tax evasion?

Tax evasion is the deliberate practice of non-payment of tax to HMRC. Unlike the grey area of ‘tax avoidance’, tax evasion refers to situations in which a person or company is intentionally dishonest to evade tax and cheat the system.

Fiscal evasion happens at all scales, from the smallest businesses to the largest corporations. It’s not just large businesses using overseas accounts to hide their income – a sole trader who intentionally lies about their earnings to avoid paying the right tax is just as guilty of tax evasion.

Examples of fiscal evasion include:

  • Non-reporting of income: intentionally hiding earnings and leaving them out of a tax return or failing to file one at all.
  • Misuse of tax-allowable expenditure: some schemes that offer tax breaks allow you to spend money on other qualifying activities or purchases. Intentionally using the funds for other, non-qualifying reasons is tax evasion.
  • False expenses: claiming expenses that haven’t been genuinely incurred to lower tax bills is fraud.
  • Transaction evasion: using cash or cryptocurrency to carry out transactions with the aim of avoiding tax is intentional evasion.
  • Fake investments: some tax schemes allow you to use revenue to invest in qualifying endeavours (such as R&D). Evasion occurs when a person/business intentionally exploits this system by reporting fake investments in non-existent schemes/organisations.
  • VAT fraud: this is when someone submits fraudulent VAT repayment claims to HMRC in order to recoup more VAT than they have paid.

     

There are several other examples, but the general message is clear: any deliberate and dishonest attempt to hide tax obligations or avoid paying the appropriate amount of tax is classed as tax evasion.

Individuals and businesses alike must understand what constitutes tax evasion, as the consequences can be severe.

Read our AML and CTF Roadmap

Is fiscal evasion illegal?

Though tax penalties exist in other less serious categories, tax evasion is treated as a criminal offence and carries far harsher consequences, ranging from fines to imprisonment. The severity of the punishment depends on how the case is handled.

Tax evasion vs tax avoidance

Tax avoidance is the practice of trying to pay as little tax as possible while remaining on the right side of the law. The UK government defines it as "bending the rules of the tax system to gain an advantage Parliament never intended."

Though tax avoidance may be technically legal, it is still discouraged, and HMRC is constantly clamping down on avoidance schemes. Unlike tax evasion, no illegal activity is committed, and therefore, it is not a criminal offence. Read our guide to tax avoidance vs tax evasion to learn more about the similarities and differences.

If you suspect an individual or business is engaging in tax avoidance, it’s also worth noting that ‘avoidance’ can quickly become ‘evasion’ in the eyes of the law – so clamping down on it early and improving compliance training is always the better choice.

What are the steps to report tax evasion?

If you suspect fiscal evasion, do not put yourself at risk by investigating it any further or by telling anyone else that you're doing to report it. Instead, you should report it to HMRC and let them take over.

Reporting tax evasion can be intimidating, as you may be worried about potential repercussions. Fortunately, HMRC operates a confidential reporting system that you can use to inform them about tax evasion cases and even tax avoidance.

Here’s how to report tax evasion in clear, simple steps:

  1. Decide whether to use the online reporting tool or an alternative method. If you don’t want to do it digitally, you can call 0800 788 887.
  2. Use the reporting tool to choose which type of tax evasion you wish to report. Use broad keywords to find the most appropriate type (e.g., type ‘VAT’ to see options such as ‘False VAT refund claims’)
  3. Select whether you're reporting an individual or a business
  4. Follow the rest of the steps and provide as much information as you can

Note: You do not need to provide personal details or information, and you can remain anonymous when reporting tax evasion.

HMRC is also cracking down on tax avoidance schemes. If you’ve been approached to join a tax avoidance scheme, don’t take the risk with your business and instead report it to HMRC.

Explore our Compliance Essentials Library

Want to learn more about Financial Crime?

Our Essentials library contains e-learning content designed to help organisations meet fundamental compliance requirements and features courses that help your staff understand what financial crime is and how to prevent it. These include:

We've also created a comprehensive AML and CTF roadmap to help you navigate the compliance landscape, supported by several financial crime prevention courses in our FCA Compliance library. If you are looking for focused training, our Financial Crime Training Package offers a complete solution for your compliance programme.

If you would like to access leading insights and compliance tips, you can browse our free resources by topic to find guides, modules, compliance bites and more.

Explore our collection

Related articles

tax-avoidance-vs-tax-evasion-|-tax-evasion-consequences-|-skillcast
Financial Crime

Tax Avoidance vs Tax Evasion | Tax Evasion Consequences |...

13 minute read

Find out how to tell the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion with some high-profile examples. Avoid prosecution and hefty fines.

Read more
what-is-the-uk-criminal-finances-act?-|-skillcast
FCA Compliance Financial Crime

What is the UK Criminal Finances Act? | Skillcast

3 minute read

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 targets corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. How does this legislation affect UK organisations?

Read more
fraud-reporting:-5-simple-steps-|-fraud-prevention-|-skillcast
Fraud

Fraud Reporting: 5 Simple Steps | Fraud Prevention |...

6 minute read

Think you’ve spotted fraud? Whether it’s tax fraud, cybercrime or something else, here’s a Skillcast guide to help you confidentially report fraud to the authorities.

Read more