HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has stepped up its efforts to weed out haulage companies that are failing to pay enough tax.

A number of government bodies joined forces last week to stop lorries travelling in the West Midlands to see if they were complying with the UK's laws.

Having pulled over 32 trucks, the taskforce found five drivers were not registered for income tax assessment, while a number of people were also discovered to be committing other crimes, ranging from using laundered fuel to not having a HGV licence.

Bob Gaiger from HMRC said the organisation has been tipped off that a lot of haulage businesses in the Midlands are under-declaring when making tax contributions.

As such, Paul Merris of Baker Tilly, an accountancy and business advisory firm, has urged logistics firms to get their tax affairs in order.

"HMRC would not be launching this investigation unless it had good reason to believe that tax evasion was taking place," he commented.