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Press watch: ‘Tax crackdown to target middle class’

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Chief prosecutor’s targets include ‘tax consultants who push dishonest avoidance schemes'

‘Middle-class professionals are to be targeted in a new crackdown on tax evasion promised by the chief prosecutor of England and Wales.

‘The Crown Prosecution Service will dramatically ramp up the number of tax evasion cases it takes on – with a view to prosecution – over the next two years, Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, told the Financial Times. The CPS will increase fivefold the number of tax files it handles, to 1,500 a year by 2014/15. This compares with 200 tax convictions the CPS secured in 2010 – its current conviction rate for tax cases stands at 86%.

‘Tax consultants who push dishonest avoidance schemes – and the professionals who invest in them – are central targets in the strategy. “There have been some cases involving lawyers, some involving tax consultants, and plumbers,” Mr Starmer said in an interview …

‘Mr Starmer will telegraph the CPS’s new approach in a speech on Tuesday.’

Financial Times, 21 January 2013

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