LANDLORDS and small business owners are getting away with evading tax because of government cuts to HMRC, a fringe meeting heard today during TUC women’s conference.

Smaller businesses are being overlooked because investigating them is more resource-intensive than using databases, said Lorna Merry, HMRC group president for civil servants’ union PCS.

Only 2.9 million out of 5.7m small businesses are registered as employers and for purposes of paying VAT, she added.