Britain on Thursday launched a new crackdown against tax dodgers, publishing the names and pictures of the nation's top 20 most wanted tax fugitives for the first time. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) appealed to the public to help locate the 20 fugitives who are accused of fleeing Britain to avoid paying millions of pounds in taxation.
"To help in the effort to hunt down the United Kingdom's biggest tax fraudsters, HMRC will place photographs of its most wanted on its flickr channel and ask members of the public to assist in finding them," it said in a statement. "The most wanted are tax criminals who have absconded after being charged with a crime or during trial."
According to HMRC, tax evasion and fraud costs British taxpayers about œ10 billion per year. "The government is absolutely committed to tackling tax evasion and fraud," added British Treasury minister David Gauke in the statement.
"These criminals have collectively cost the taxpayer over œ765 million ($1.2 billion, 978 million euros) and HMRC will pursue them relentlessly. "We hope that publishing their pictures in this way will enable members of the public to contribute to the effort to catch them." The top 20 list was posted on HMRC's Flickr page, which can be found at www.flickr.com/hmrcgovuk.