HMRC prepares to tear a strip off adult entertainers

ADULT club owners and adult entertainers who do not pay their taxes are being targeted by a new taskforce launched by HM Revenue and Customs.

HMRC said the rise of the internet had caused a drastic increase in online escort agencies and it was likely the industry was now considerably larger than in 2010 when estimates put it at around £5bn a year.

For the first time in this sector, the new taskforce will target the traders and entertainers, some of whom earn thousands of pounds a day.

It said those who continued to flout the legislation and did not register with HMRC for VAT, Income Tax and PAYE were being targeted.

In a recent prosecution relating to the adult entertainment industry, a woman from Sussex was sentenced to three years in prison for tax fraud in relation to earnings from her high class escort agency

Jim Stevenson, Head of HMRC Taskforces, said: “Large numbers of people working in this industry are paying the tax they owe and they don’t have anything to worry about. The people being targeted by this taskforce have no intention of playing by the rules, and we won’t tolerate this.
 
“No industry is safe where tax evasion is concerned – we won’t stop tracking people down and taking back what they owe.”
 
More than 140 taskforces have been launched since 2011 collecting more than £404m in outstanding revenue. The figure includes £109m brought in during the first six months of this financial year.
 
HMRC is urging people who know of fraud in the sector to contact its Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000.