A roofer who dodged a £250,000 income tax bill by hiding his earnings for almost a decade has been jailed for 18 months.
William Miller, 47, was snared after an HMRC probe into tax fraud and money laundering found he was concealing his true income.
He used a financial firm to avoid paying proper tax but an investigation revealed self-employed Miller cashed 303 cheques in an attempt to conceal the cash flow of his Everlast Roofing.
A search of his home in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, discovered £1,700 in a make-up case and £9,500 in a wardrobe. Miller admitted evading £250,000 of income tax between 2010 and 2019.
Eddie Kelly, defending, reminded Hamilton Sheriff Court that Miller had previously indicated he would be able to pay £100,000.
A major HMRC probe found that William Miller had concealed his true income for almost a decade
He told Sheriff John Speir: ‘You will see there is a bank statement with a balance of just over £30,000 which comes from him securing a bank loan while there is also documentation which relates to him selling his motor vehicle for £28,000.
‘That takes us to around £60,000 but the reason his plan is not yet complete is that he is attempting to secure a re-mortgage of his property and will contribute equity from that.’
But Sheriff Speir said he was not convinced. He told Miller: ‘I gave you the opportunity to come back with details of a genuine plan to take forward but you have not done that so I’m going to sentence you to 18 months imprisonment.’
Prosecutors have now begun confiscation proceedings. Miller was originally charged with failing to declare tax totalling £659,178 but prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to the lesser amount.
Joe Hendry, of HMRC fraud investigation service, said: ‘Miller tried to hide a significant amount of income that should have gone to the public purse.
‘Money service businesses provide vital services to the community, offering currency exchange, money transmission and cheque cashing.
‘However, they can be exploited by criminals and as a committed partner of the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, HMRC is determined to tackle the type of offending exhibited by Miller.’
