Tax Evaders Gallery Published

[Scottish Business Owner]

HMRC has published the photo's of the UK's 20 most wanted tax fugitives.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19269662

I wonder what other people think of HMRC doing this? Is it a good thing or is it a dangerous step in the wrong direction?

I remember someone telling me that many years ago certain shops etc would put the names of people who hadn't paid in their windows. I'm too young to remember this myself

 

[Mike Lewis]

At first glance, there seem to be a couple of problems with this. First, if it turns out that the person is not guilty of tax evasion after all, then whoever posted the picture (HMRC in this case) is leaving themselves open to a libel action.

Second, if the person in question is ever apprehended and brought to trial, they could argue that the posting of the picture has prejudiced their defence.

Presumably, an organisation like HMRC is aware of these issues, which makes me wonder why they went ahead with it. The BBC article says that some (not all) of the people in the photos have been "found guilty in their absence". I didn't know that was possible under UK law. It all looks a bit strange.

Regarding shops using their windows to display details of people who haven't paid their bills. I remember this happening some years ago, but it never caught on, presumably for the reasons stated above.

Mike