I'm worried that I may have been involved in fraud

[user2019]

Hi everyone

This is my first post here, and there don't seem to be any forums that exactly match my query, so I'm just putting it here in the Welcome Forum.

This is a rather curious story. Last September, I engaged a barrister to represent me at a mediation meeting. I engaged him on a direct access basis. The evening before the meeting, he visited me at my home to discuss what would happen the following day. He had said that I could just bring his fee with me to the meeting venue, but I'd had the cheque made out that day, so just before he left, I offered to give it to him there and then. As he took it, he said, "I'm not charging you VAT. It will be a while before I present the cheque, because I'm losing the VAT". I didn't really know what he meant, so I asked him if he wanted me to have another cheque made out. He then said, "No, I'll just put it into a different account".

I was far too worried about the meeting next day to query what he'd said, so I just let it go, but after a while, I got the feeling he might have involved me in something 'dodgy'. I mean, how can you 'lose VAT'? A few weeks after the meeting, I wrote to him and reminded him of what he'd said, and asked him to reassure me that he had not involved me in anything improper. All I got back was a very abusive letter that did not even mention what I'd asked him. I then wrote to him again to ask him to explain what he'd said about my cheque and ' losing the VAT', but after more than a month, he hasn't replied, so now I'm really suspicious.

I've always thought of myself as someone who tries to be honest, and I hate the idea of tax fraud, because it steals from all of us, and it makes me very uncomfortable to think I might have been drawn into something that isn't 100% legal. However, I don't know anything about VAT, and for all I know, this man might have been talking about doing something that was quite OK.

So I'd really like anyone here to suggest an innocent explanation for what he said to me.

[des8]

I think you are overthinking the situation.
You employed a barrister.
You paid his fee by cheque.
What he does with that cheque, what account he pays it into, has nothing to do with you.
His accounting procedures are none of your business either.

He made some throw away remarks, which might have been a peculiar form of boasting about his tax affairs.
That does not make you a party to any tax evasion/avoidance schemes he might be using.
He said he wasn't charging you vat.
That was generous of him, but you have no way of knowing whether or not he accounted for it in his tax returns or if he is even registered for VAT.
If his taxable turnover is less than £85000 he doesn't need to register.

IMO you should just let it go.

[user2019]

That does not make you a party to any tax evasion/avoidance schemes he might be using.

I would have thought that the fact that he told me he was doing it has made me a party to it.

[des8]

You have done nothing wrong and are under no legal obligation to report suspected tax evasion.

Did you get an invoice or receipt for this work?
.

If you wish you can report suspected tax evasion anonymously https://www.gov.uk/report-vat-fraud