Neighbour evading taxes

LegacyUser

Right folks, I have a question for you as I'm really not sure how or if I should do anything about this. For obvious reasons, I'm going enreg in case any previous posts reveal my identity, perhaps to the subject of this post!

My neighbour has his own business, which isn't registered. The thing is that as far as he's told me, he's not paying any taxes. No registration, no need to pay taxes!! The guy is pulling in a couple of grand every week, or so he says. It shows too; what with the new car, foreign holidays and expensive home entertainment items.

The problem is that his "partner" has also set up another business, again with the same dodgy business practices.

So between them they're pulling in somewhere in the region of €1500 to €3000 a week without paying any taxes.

So the question arises, do I discretely let Revenue know about this or do I say nothing? He's a nice guy but at the same time, why shouldn't he pay his due like the rest of us?

Any comments appreciated.

Anti

Yep report him.

You might even get a cash reward too. Just make sure he dosent find out its you.

Ballyman

Your neighbour is one thick individual to be boasting about this to you. He will be caught at some stage and he's better being caught now before he ends up owing a massive sum and penalties.

dbnavan

Snitch or not? wrote:

Right folks, I have a question for you as I'm really not sure how or if I should do anything about this. For obvious reasons, I'm going enreg in case any previous posts reveal my identity, perhaps to the subject of this post!

My neighbour has his own business, which isn't registered. The thing is that as far as he's told me, he's not paying any taxes. No registration, no need to pay taxes!! The guy is pulling in a couple of grand every week, or so he says. It shows too; what with the new car, foreign holidays and expensive home entertainment items.

The problem is that his "partner" has also set up another business, again with the same dodgy business practices.

So between them they're pulling in somewhere in the region of €1500 to €3000 a week without paying any taxes.

So the question arises, do I discretely let Revenue know about this or do I say nothing? He's a nice guy but at the same time, why shouldn't he pay his due like the rest of us?

Any comments appreciated.

Mind your own business, if he gets caught its his problem, you dont want to make enemies where you live. Whats it to you! Ok so your a good citezen paying your taxes keep it up, you have nothing to worry about, dont sh*t on your own doorstep.

Rabies

I would go with dbnavan on this. Sure it isn't right that he doesn't pay his taxes, but let him at it. If he wants to take the chance let him do it. It will come back around.

Now, if he was claiming the dole at the same time, then I would be pissed.

egan007

I think your real Boards name is TheGreenEyedMonster!

event

i would stay out of it

it will some out that it was you and you could find your self being singled out by the neighbours. No one would tell you anything

MikeHoncho

Eh. Whats with the turn a blind eye attitude from all of you. The right thing to do if you know someone is commiting a crime is to tell the relevant authorities. The neighbour is an idiot for boasting about it in the first place and deserves to get caught.

onemanband

We should run a poll on this thread. Is the OP:

A: A very conscientious citizen who is doing his duty, upholding the law and trying his best to ensure we live in a fair and equal society.

B: A jealous small minded individual who wants exact some form of revenge on his neighbour with his fancy dvd home cinema.

I'd vote A!!!

If you are that concerned about tax exasion you should embark on a crusade to find as many cheats as possible. Not just reporting on your next door neighbour. Maybe you could set up some drink driving checkpoints as well.

For the record I think everyone should pay their taxes. I hope that those that do not get caught and hammered. I however do not think we should be reporting our neighbours.

Oryx

I wouldnt shop this guy through jealousy (which is what it sounds like) but if his business was the sort of thing that created a nuisance, like cars for sale all over your estate, or working and making noise late at night, well that would be a reason. I know people should pay their taxes, Im self employed and do pay tax so it would wind me up too. But this being the country that practically invented the 'nixer', if you do report him and people find out it was you, the reaction might not be very sympathetic, and of course he'll be after your head.

Zebra3

Either shop him, or ask for a cut of his illegal gains. :cool:

Owen

If he's not claiming the dole, then don't bother. There are many many many trades where people don't pay taxes, giving grinds, musicians, foxer work for plasters, etc, etc, etc. You sound jealous TBH.

LegacyUser

'1. What type of business?
2. How do you know he's not registered?
3. Does he also have a paye job?
4. He may have no need to register, it is quite possible to operate a business as an individual and still comply with all relevant legislation every October (although there is essentially a 2 year period of grace if it's a start up).

Basically, what I'm saying here is, that you probably don't have enough info here to go off tipping off the authorities, if however, the individual were to be engaged in benefit fraud, yes, I'd recommend you alert the relevant authorities, if you suspect it's simply tax evasion, keep your suspicions to yourself.
Whatever happens between an individual and the revenue is strictly confidential, and I don't know that they even have an outlet for investigating such info received from the public.
One final point, it would be very difficult for someone to evade tax on the amounts of money you are talking about, since the Criminal Justice Act came in (1994), it's clamped down on such operations, and if he is, rest assured he will be caught, and the interest and penalties will be more than enough to sate your jealousy.'

summerwine

I'm just guessing here but anyone that has said report him hasn't been self employed before? While it is the correct thing to report him. It sounds like sour grapes to do this. He and she will prob get caught in the long run. The longer they think they are getting away with it the larger the tax bills will be in the long run. I would stay out of it and let it be. The last thing you want to do is make enemies.

garthv

Leave him to his own devices,
He'll get caught sooner or later

padi89

Its none of your buisness OP stay out of it.If it were a member of your own family or a close friend i doubt you would be considering reporting them, unless.....you are the jealous type??????

HereForDarts

In my opinion, the person who boasts about not paying tax, is most likely to be paying it, and just wants to hear his own voice.

You would look like a fool reporting him, if it turned out that all his tax is up to date.

Sure if you're self employed, you wouldnt have to do your tax return til the year end anyway.

Celtic67

Op: You should really mind your own business. Let him get on with it its not adversely affecting you so why interfere?

LegacyUser

'Shop him.

If he's above board and lying to you, then no real harm done (he may be inconvenienced, but revenue tend not to be too aggressive unless it actually looks like he's non-compliant).

If he's not - then he's costing me (and all other tax compliant people) money by underpaying taxes.

Anonymous tip of by letter...'

LegacyUser

Thanks guys.

I can understand both sides of the arguments here. It could definitely look like jealousy but I would like to think it's not.

Anyway, I just wanted to guage how people see this kind of thing. I can see how self-employed people could be offended by such snitching. I didn't mean to offend anyone.

It's just that I feel it isn't fair on others. But thats just my personal opinion.

As others have said, what goes around comes around.

Thanks guys.

cheeky_guy

Why would you even WANT to rat something up for something thats got absolutey nothing to do with you? Bet you were a little 'tell tale' in school lol. Coward!!

Doodler

That's a real quandary - they have a board game with situations like this. To my mind the lesser evil is to ignore it because a) you don't know what kind of neighbour he will become if he finds out you shopped him; b) same goes for the other neighbours, and c) it's hard to imagine anybody having a cash business of that scale and not be noticed by revenue - he'll get caught anyway.

loismustdie

cheeky_guy wrote:

Why would you even WANT to rat something up for something thats got absolutey nothing to do with you? Bet you were a little 'tell tale' in school lol. Coward!!

it's understandable for him to feel jelous when it's been flaunted next door ro him and he's obeying the law and basically feeling screwed by it. same argument as people working on social welfare or claiming single parents when they shouldn't be.
it would easily get to honest people seeing wasters and scammers coming out financilly better.

but i would stay out of it, don't stoop to his level of underhandness and be proud of your own achievements in the knowledge that you are more ethical

Goldfinger

cheeky_guy wrote:

Why would you even WANT to rat something up for something thats got absolutey nothing to do with you? Bet you were a little 'tell tale' in school lol. Coward!!

I don't like personal attacks but I must say this comes close to my opinion.
It never ceases to amaze me how attitudes have changed in this country in such a short space of time.
20 years ago someone would have been ostracised for informing on their neighbour to the authorities over something like this, and rightly so.

You can argue being self-employed without paying taxes is wrong- it isn't something that would really get my goat, but obviously I couldn't rationally defend it as a practice. If everyone did it then the country would be broke.

But grassing is worse.
I couldn't live with myself if I turned into a rat.
I can't help but agree with those who say your reason for wanting to do this is probably jealousy.
Apologies if I've mis-judged you, but frankly I very much doubt you're motivated by the common good, or anything so noble!

hunnymonster

when he told you about his tax evasion, did you say anything to him then? If so why not?

dame

He must be paying something or the revenue would surely be on to him (at least I'd hope they would). Maybe he just charges some customers the full whack (with VAT) and gives a slight discount to others who pay him in cash. Lots of tradesmen do that.

I don't agree with people not paying their taxes because oftentimes they are the same ones who complain the loudest about the state of the roads and lack of funding for local groups and expect their kids to be educated in top class schools, etc. Next time your neighbour complains about anything publicly funded (such as hospitals), ask him why he thinks they might be short of funding?

LegacyUser

As my name says, I used to work for the Revenue and used to regularly get letters and telephone calls from 'concerned neighbours'. Many of the people they were 'ratting' on sounded like (according to the snitch anyway) the person you describe above; ie. boasting about how they weren't paying any tax and having lavish cars and holidays. Whether this was true or just an exaggeration to get the Revenue's attention I do not know as I never went out on house calls.
What I can tell you is that your letter will be looked at once and then thrown in the bin. Civil servants don't want the extra work and it's far easier to just let something like this disappear than to add it to their in-box.
Your heart is in the right place (if everyone payed the correct amount of tax we would all be paying a lot less) but ultimately you're wasting your time.

Boston

dbnavan wrote:

Mind your own business, if he gets caught its his problem, you dont want to make enemies where you live. Whats it to you! Ok so your a good citezen paying your taxes keep it up, you have nothing to worry about, dont sh*t on your own doorstep.

Report him like I would anybody boasting about committing a crime. There's a great many people out there that work under the counter or other dodgy things, and tbh it's not my business so I wouldn't get involved. Someone bragging about it on the other hand, well its about being more then a good citizen, it's about not wanting to live in a world when the gob****es are the ones that don't break the law.

dudara

@ cheeky_guy Unhelpful comments like that will not be tolerated. Please refrain in the future. FOr further information read the charter.

dudara

Byrno

I don't get why people seem to think that benefit fraud is wrong but tax evasion is grand. Both cost us as a country money.

In this case I would say tip off Revenue anonymously. He is getting richer by evading taxes. Even if he did pay tax he would still make a load of money so he is just being an idiot. He is stealing from us. You have a duty to report him.

sweet-rasmus

leave it be; you don't want to be stuck living beside a neighbour you don't get on with.

LegacyUser

'

cheeky_guy wrote:

Why would you even WANT to rat something up for something thats got absolutey nothing to do with you? Bet you were a little 'tell tale' in school lol. Coward!!

I pay e500 - 600 tax from my wages every week. Most of the guys I work with pay a lot more than me. I pay more tax each year than the average Irish person earns in a year. So why should I pay the best part of e30,000 tax each year while others don't, and reap the benefits of my sweat.

I'd rat him out, but maybe wait a couple of weeks so he doesn't suspect it was you.'

Linoge

ex-inspector wrote:

What I can tell you is that your letter will be looked at once and then thrown in the bin. Civil servants don't want the extra work and it's far easier to just let something like this disappear than to add it to their in-box.
Your heart is in the right place (if everyone payed the correct amount of tax we would all be paying a lot less) but ultimately you're wasting your time.

No, I think you'll find that the RC actually take tax evasion very seriously. Why are you trying to bs us?

jesus_thats_gre

Must commend you on your desire to do the right thing but I would stay well out of it to be honest.

Dirk Gently

I'd give him my shopping list and a few other bits and pieces every week and get him to buy the stuff and deliver it to my door if he didnt want me to rat on him.

But thats just cos I'm a cnut and so are all my neighbours.

seriously though, if he was a nice bloke I'd leave him be but advise him that he will more than likely get caught at some stage. If he wasn't a nice bloke i'd leave him be for a while and let him build up a nice little tax bill and then rat on him.

Him not paying taxes is affecting the quality of your services.

LegacyUser

'To those people who accuse the OP of being "a rat" and "grassing" on their neighbour, would they feel the same if the neighbour was a drug dealer?. Presumabley these people are ok with paying their taxes but others can evade them?'

dRNk SAnTA

Can't believe i'm reading all this "whats it got to do with you, mind your own business stuff". ffs, it concerns us all.

Wouldn't it be great if none of us paid our taxes, but we do because its the law. This guy doesnt deserve to be different.

OP, imo you should ignore "ex-inspector", whether he's telling the truth or not. You should send in a letter and it may get ignored or it may not, at least you'll have done the right thing.

ChRoMe

If the guy is above board and just telling porkies he will still be a lot more than inconvienced.

++ To its none of your business and should stay out of other peoples affairs.

Furthermore all the self righteous lot cop on who do you think the real con men in Ireland?? (its a rethorical question btw)

Goverment has no problem publically taking the piss so why should the citizens behave any different?

nesf

There is a limit under which you do not need to register for VAT. He may be under it. VAT Thresholds

What it comes down to is that if your turnover is under X (depends on the type of business), then you don't have to register for VAT. You can opt to do so but you are under to requirement to do so. Not doing so means that you don't have to charge VAT to your customers which is nice for you, but you can't claim back VAT on anything you buy for the business, which isn't so good for you. If he isn't registered he is paying full VAT on all equipment/stationary/etc.

Essentially if a company doesn't register for VAT they don't 'get out of the tax loop'. It still ends up paying VAT to the government, it's just on all purchases rather than giving it from their sales. It might seem like it's a fantastic deal but it isn't really. Unless there is no regular purchases involved in the job then it's generally not much of a gain.


He would have to register earnings for income tax of course, which is a different problem. But he could be referring to VAT if he said that he 'doesn't need to register'. He could also be lying about the amount that he's making.


Oh and ChRoMe, someone adherence to their civic duties should not depend on their views on the present set of TDs, tbh. Though, it would hold true to them being 'representative of the people' if most people thought that way.

TheNog

I say inform Revenue. If he is evading tax then he deserves to be investigated. It doesn't matter how nice a fella he is, it is still a crime. Crime is crime no matter what type of offence it is.

nesf

TheNog wrote:

I say inform Revenue. If he is evading tax then he deserves to be investigated. It doesn't matter how nice a fella he is, it is still a crime. Crime is crime no matter what type of offence it is.

He's not necessarily evading tax illegally though.

TheNog

Well no one knows for sure that the neighbour is evading tax but is not better to have it checked out rather than let it go? I still say inform the revenue

tensecyclist

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Must commend you on your desire to do the right thing but I would stay well out of it to be honest.

I agree. You'll only be putting yourself in a difficult situation.

I_and_I

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I usaully don't go around quoting scripture (atheist) but it seems relevant. Unless you have nothing to be brought out in to the light of day, I wouldn't say anything. He may have dirt on you too, that is no suggestion that you are up to anything illegal. Your only alternative is blackmail. (I don't reccomend it though)

Motley Crue

report him, get rewarded, and even if he finds out its you then just remember youre doing youre duty as an irish citizen to make sure nothing happens

misterq

those who reckon he will eventually be caught by the revenue are being a little naive. If it is a cash business and he has never registered with them in the first place, then he could well get away with it for a long time.

The revenue have an anonymous line where you can report people.
I reported a guy who ripped me off (paid for goods that never arrived, he charged VAT even though there was no such company). I don't believe anything was done.

In reality, tax evaders are stealing from us all. We would have to pay les tax if they all coughed up their fair share.

The question then, is what do you do about it?

I think the OP needs to weigh up the situation. I don't know if I would report a neighbour, even anonymously.

If it ever did get out, then it could mean a lot of awkwardness (at the very least) for a long time. And maybe you don't need that on your own doorstep.

Owen

misterq wrote:

We would have to pay les tax if they all coughed up their fair share.

You brightened up my morning. That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

DeiseGal

Goes without saying - report him!
We are getting ripped off enough in this country and why should the rest of us pay our taxes etc... for scumbags like that.
By boasting about it, he is actually laughing in your face. If it was the other way round he would defo do it to you.
Please report him for yourself and the rest of the honest people left in this country.

imeatingchips

jesus, you're some bollix you are op. have u never heard of the ten commandments? and you brazenly coveting your neighbours wife. Sure we'd ALL like a wife who pulls in 3k cash a week but you can't be begrudge the man who's lucky enough to have one

would you grass up a fella doing a nixer and not declaring it?

if he gets caught it's his problem - and fault - but it's absolutely not, under any circumstances, never, ever, your place to rat him up. not for bloody tax evasion anyway.

in the country-wide scale of things it's nothing.

DeiseGal

Seriously do not know what is wrong with people. Nixers is not an issue - im sure no one would begrudge anyone doing that. Imagine living next door to someone that you knew was raking in 3000€ per week, not paying taxes and you are living week to week and dreading the next bill coming in. Put yourself in that position, how would you feel?
Ireland has a very high if not one of the highest compo rates for false claims -this is why our insurance is so high. This is no different.
Its wrong and he shouldnt be allowed to get away with it. This country and ourselves would be better off if this sort of thing was kept to a minimum and people like this were reported.

ixoy

Report him. Most of us here pay taxes and I don't see why someone like your neighbour should get away with it when he's using the facilities that it pays for (his education in the past, the roads he drives on, public transport he uses, etc).

If he wants to really cut down on it, the very least he can do is use all the tax cheats like the rest of the rich b*stards in the country and sink it into holiday homes, car parks, and horses. His current behaviour is not only dishonest, it's also just lazy accounting. Pfft.