U.K. Names and Shames 32 Tax Cheats in Evasion Crackdown

The U.K. tax agency, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, published the names and photographs of 2012’s top tax cheats in a move designed to shame tax-dodgers as part of a government crackdown on evasion.

The 32 criminals have been sentenced to a combined total of 155 years and 10 months behind bars, HMRC said in a statement in London today.

“Most people play by the rules and pay what they owe, but HMRC is cracking down on those who don’t,” Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said in the statement. “We hope that publishing these pictures will help get across that it always makes sense to declare all your income, and tax dodgers are simply storing up trouble for the future.”

The government is spending 994 million pounds ($1.6 billion) over four years to tackle tax evasion, avoidance and fraud, aiming to add an annual 7 billion pounds to the Treasury’s coffers by the fiscal year ending in 2015.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kitty Donaldson in London at kdonaldson1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net