I honestly don't think I could report anyone. A friend of mine was falsely reported after a family fall out and even though she was ultimately exonerated, the stress on her was terrible. I would have to really dislike someone to do that to them.
If someone could genuinely say that they'd shop a close friend or relative then I'd probably have a tiny bit of respect for them. But in my experience those that report suspected benefit fraud are generally doing it out of a sense of spite rather than a genuine concern for other income tax payers.
Back in the day ( Thatchers day ) I had the misfortune to be sat in a packed, and I mean packed Social Security office waiting room . There was only one desk open and it was taking something like two hours to be seen at the ONE open counter, and then you could discuss all your business in public for the edification of all the other claimants.
The woman who was immediately in front of me sat and sat and sat patiently waiting like the rest of us, then when she got to the desk said " How do I report someone for working on the side " ?....she was told to " please wait a minute " and the DSS worker disappeared into a back room . This left the good citizen left sat at the desk waiting and waiting ....and waiting . Everybody in the room had heard her.....I have never felt that amount of loathing in a tiny room before or since . Everybody recognised it as spite cos thats what it was ....dont even get me started on her stupidity in not having the wit to do it by phone but actually sitting in a queue for two hours to do it as publically as possible. Or maybe she was just being public spirited.
I honestly don't think I could report anyone. A friend of mine was falsely reported after a family fall out and even though she was ultimately exonerated, the stress on her was terrible. I would have to really dislike someone to do that to them.
Yes, there are always those sort. There was no chance of that scenario when I reported someone. She was quite open about it.
It is your duty as a tax payer to shop out a benefits thief.
Does that include the "benefit thief" themselves?
A "benefit thief" is still a taxpayer because we are all taxpayers - income tax is not the only form of tax. What about those working but earn less than £9k a year, they're not paying income tax and so, in you opinion are not "taxpayers".
You really haven't thought that sentence through, have you?
Think of the stress it would cause to the individual if they were actually innocent.
If i was accused when at my most ill, and investigated, even though innocent, i would have taken my own life.
I have more things to worry about than shop people the way things are nowadays people have got to survive . and the MPS want to give them self a £10,000 pay rise ,its a joke!
and I used the "home" and then the "search" options in the link provided by the OP and I used the search term "reporting income tax fraud" which brought me to the page below
and not the one you posted,
such a shame that the government and the media don't give anything like the same emphasis to reporting tax fraudsters as they do to reporting benefits fraud, and yet, one of the types of fraud costs us many times more than the other, and I bet you know which one it is as well,
Think of the stress it would cause to the individual if they were actually innocent.
If i was accused when at my most ill, and investigated, even though innocent, i would have taken my own life.
and I used the "home" and then the "search" options in the link provided by the OP and I used the search term "reporting income tax fraud" which brought me to the page below
and not the one you posted,
such a shame that the government and the media don't give anything like the same emphasis to reporting tax fraudsters as they do to reporting benefits fraud, and yet, one of the types of fraud costs us many times more than the other, and I bet you know which one it is as well,
It wasn't hard to find. I put "report income tax fraud" into Google and it was the first hit.
Regardless, any type of fraud is wrong and needs reporting, under any type of government, not just a Tory one.
Think of the stress it would cause to the individual if they were actually innocent.
If i was accused when at my most ill, and investigated, even though innocent, i would have taken my own life.
I've known a few people who have been reported who haven't claimed anything fraudulently, which makes me believe that a lot of people who do report do so out of spite rather than any actual sense of doing their duty.
What pisses me off the most is that those spiteful people can actually do this with no repercussions whatsoever.
I've known a few people who have been reported who haven't claimed anything fraudulently, which makes me believe that a lot of people who do report do so out of spite rather than any actual sense of doing their duty.
What pisses me off the most is that those spiteful people can actually do this with no repercussions whatsoever.
I totally agree, its spite, jealousy or just sheer hatred for a person. Cant stand these people who claim it to be a moral obligation to do so.
It wasn't hard to find. I put "report income tax fraud" into Google and it was the first hit.
Regardless, any type of fraud is wrong and needs reporting, under any type of government, not just a Tory one.
I just think that if we are going to be encouraged to snoop on, and be suspicious of, our neighbours, then it is the duty of ANY government to at least ensure that their response to said crime/s is proportionate, as there should be around fifteen times more emphasis on tax fraud as, as tax fraud cost US the "tax payers" FAR more than benefit fraud,
Welfare fraud is a drop in the ocean compared to tax avoidance
As Joanne Gibbons' case shows, benefit underpayments save us more than 'cheats' cost us. We need to target the real villains
The British public believe benefit fraud is a big problem. A recent poll by the TUC showed people believe 27% of the welfare budget is fraudulently claimed.
The reality is very different. Last year, 0.7% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud, according to the DWP's official estimates. This totalled £1.2bn over the year. Nor is fraud getting worse – even against a background of benefit cuts and long-term unemployment fraud made up a smaller share of the welfare bill last year than it did in 2010/11 or 2009/10.
Indeed, welfare fraud is smaller than accidental overpayments due to error, which totalled £2.2bn (£1.4bn of which due to official error). It's also smaller than the amount of money underpaid to those entitled to it: £1.3bn.
Benefit underpayments save us more money than benefit fraud costs us. By the most conservative estimates, tax avoidance and tax evasion outweighs benefit fraud eightfold. But the constant target of argument – "scroungers", "benefit cheats", and more, isn't the well-heeled middle classes who knock a little off their tax return, or the high-rollers with elaborate offshore schemes.
Even if it was done out of spite, its still not wrong to do so if its true.
No it's not, but it is quite telling when you know of someone who has reported someone else for benefit fraud when they've pretty much ignored the fact their own sister has been doing it for years.
I've known a few people who have been reported who haven't claimed anything fraudulently, which makes me believe that a lot of people who do report do so out of spite rather than any actual sense of doing their duty.
What pisses me off the most is that those spiteful people can actually do this with no repercussions whatsoever.
Totally agree. A family friend was reported, and as it turned out he had been receiving benefits he shouldn't have due to not reporting a change in circumstances a long time ago. Now this man was living hand to mouth, so it's hardly like he was out buying sports cars and holidaying in the Bahamas. He ended up having to pay back something ridiculous like £15,000 in a really short space of time and ended up attempting suicide.
I very much doubt that there's that many people committing benefit fraud so they can live the high life. I think the statistics are something like only 1% of all fraud is people wrongfully claiming benefits.
Back in the 80s and during a period of unemployment I was anonymously 'reported' for 'working on the side' by someone,
I was/am an airbrush artist and I would sometimes do 'custom paint jobs' on friends motorbikes, and a good friend asked me to paint his bike for him, I agreed, the 'deal' was he buys the paint, I do the job and keep any paint left over and I would also get a couple of pints bought for me down the pub,
now I admit that sometimes I would charge for such work, but not often, as most of the time the work was done for friends and I NEVER ever charge friends,
so the fraud investigator shows up, I invite him in, show him the finished paint job, he was impressed, told me he was a biker himself, I explained that it was a hobby and that no cash changed hands, he did say that technically it was "payment in kind" but that he would not be reporting me for it,
I asked if there was any chance of knowing who had reported me (I had my suspicions anyway) he said no he couldn't tell me, but it was probably done out of 'spite'
a few months later the same bloke turned up and asked me to do a paint job for him 'wink wink' I turned him down,
it was a local custom painter who worked from his shed, I told him they had been round, and that I wasn't 'stealing his customers' because they were my friends who didn't like his work and who thought his prices were well over the top.
that was back in the 80s, I dunno what he does these days, but I am now self employed and airbrush art is what I do,
Comments
So if one of your family members committed a murder or rape, you wouldn't "grass" on them?
Yes committing benefit is wrong, but I wouldn't put it higher than murder, rape, paedophilia, terrorism etc.
Where does tax evasion and avoidance fit on your scale of "despicable crime"? Afterall, that costs a lot more that benefit error and fraud.
Back in the day ( Thatchers day ) I had the misfortune to be sat in a packed, and I mean packed Social Security office waiting room . There was only one desk open and it was taking something like two hours to be seen at the ONE open counter, and then you could discuss all your business in public for the edification of all the other claimants.
The woman who was immediately in front of me sat and sat and sat patiently waiting like the rest of us, then when she got to the desk said " How do I report someone for working on the side " ?....she was told to " please wait a minute " and the DSS worker disappeared into a back room . This left the good citizen left sat at the desk waiting and waiting ....and waiting . Everybody in the room had heard her.....I have never felt that amount of loathing in a tiny room before or since . Everybody recognised it as spite cos thats what it was ....dont even get me started on her stupidity in not having the wit to do it by phone but actually sitting in a queue for two hours to do it as publically as possible. Or maybe she was just being public spirited.
Yes, there are always those sort. There was no chance of that scenario when I reported someone. She was quite open about it.
Dont be so ridiculous, the Thread is about benefit fraud
Does that include the "benefit thief" themselves?
A "benefit thief" is still a taxpayer because we are all taxpayers - income tax is not the only form of tax. What about those working but earn less than £9k a year, they're not paying income tax and so, in you opinion are not "taxpayers".
You really haven't thought that sentence through, have you?
If i was accused when at my most ill, and investigated, even though innocent, i would have taken my own life.
Oh I am sorry, cant you see the thread title
No need to be sorry.
and I used the "home" and then the "search" options in the link provided by the OP and I used the search term "reporting income tax fraud" which brought me to the page below
https://www.gov.uk/search?q=income+tax+fraud
and not the one you posted,
such a shame that the government and the media don't give anything like the same emphasis to reporting tax fraudsters as they do to reporting benefits fraud, and yet, one of the types of fraud costs us many times more than the other, and I bet you know which one it is as well,
Guilty until proved innocent with some eh?
It wasn't hard to find. I put "report income tax fraud" into Google and it was the first hit.
Regardless, any type of fraud is wrong and needs reporting, under any type of government, not just a Tory one.
I've known a few people who have been reported who haven't claimed anything fraudulently, which makes me believe that a lot of people who do report do so out of spite rather than any actual sense of doing their duty.
What pisses me off the most is that those spiteful people can actually do this with no repercussions whatsoever.
I totally agree, its spite, jealousy or just sheer hatred for a person. Cant stand these people who claim it to be a moral obligation to do so.
I just think that if we are going to be encouraged to snoop on, and be suspicious of, our neighbours, then it is the duty of ANY government to at least ensure that their response to said crime/s is proportionate, as there should be around fifteen times more emphasis on tax fraud as, as tax fraud cost US the "tax payers" FAR more than benefit fraud,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/01/welfare-fraud-tax-avoidance
Welfare fraud is a drop in the ocean compared to tax avoidance
As Joanne Gibbons' case shows, benefit underpayments save us more than 'cheats' cost us. We need to target the real villains
The British public believe benefit fraud is a big problem. A recent poll by the TUC showed people believe 27% of the welfare budget is fraudulently claimed.
The reality is very different. Last year, 0.7% of total benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud, according to the DWP's official estimates. This totalled £1.2bn over the year. Nor is fraud getting worse – even against a background of benefit cuts and long-term unemployment fraud made up a smaller share of the welfare bill last year than it did in 2010/11 or 2009/10.
Indeed, welfare fraud is smaller than accidental overpayments due to error, which totalled £2.2bn (£1.4bn of which due to official error). It's also smaller than the amount of money underpaid to those entitled to it: £1.3bn.
Benefit underpayments save us more money than benefit fraud costs us. By the most conservative estimates, tax avoidance and tax evasion outweighs benefit fraud eightfold. But the constant target of argument – "scroungers", "benefit cheats", and more, isn't the well-heeled middle classes who knock a little off their tax return, or the high-rollers with elaborate offshore schemes.
welcome to conditioning,
Those who report full stop? Or just those who report knowing that the person is innocent?
Are you on the fiddle by any chance?
Ah that ole chestnut :rolleyes:
No it's not, but it is quite telling when you know of someone who has reported someone else for benefit fraud when they've pretty much ignored the fact their own sister has been doing it for years.
Totally agree. A family friend was reported, and as it turned out he had been receiving benefits he shouldn't have due to not reporting a change in circumstances a long time ago. Now this man was living hand to mouth, so it's hardly like he was out buying sports cars and holidaying in the Bahamas. He ended up having to pay back something ridiculous like £15,000 in a really short space of time and ended up attempting suicide.
I very much doubt that there's that many people committing benefit fraud so they can live the high life. I think the statistics are something like only 1% of all fraud is people wrongfully claiming benefits.
I was/am an airbrush artist and I would sometimes do 'custom paint jobs' on friends motorbikes, and a good friend asked me to paint his bike for him, I agreed, the 'deal' was he buys the paint, I do the job and keep any paint left over and I would also get a couple of pints bought for me down the pub,
now I admit that sometimes I would charge for such work, but not often, as most of the time the work was done for friends and I NEVER ever charge friends,
so the fraud investigator shows up, I invite him in, show him the finished paint job, he was impressed, told me he was a biker himself, I explained that it was a hobby and that no cash changed hands, he did say that technically it was "payment in kind" but that he would not be reporting me for it,
I asked if there was any chance of knowing who had reported me (I had my suspicions anyway) he said no he couldn't tell me, but it was probably done out of 'spite'
a few months later the same bloke turned up and asked me to do a paint job for him 'wink wink' I turned him down,
it was a local custom painter who worked from his shed, I told him they had been round, and that I wasn't 'stealing his customers' because they were my friends who didn't like his work and who thought his prices were well over the top.
that was back in the 80s, I dunno what he does these days, but I am now self employed and airbrush art is what I do,