Tax & Spend
Taxman Failing to Tackle Billions of Pounds of Fraud, MPs Say
- HMRC’s £5.5 billion evasion estimate is ‘tip of the iceberg’
- Avoidance crackdown could help chancellor fill budget hole
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Britain’s tax collectors are likely to be significantly underestimating illegal avoidance and not doing enough to tackle the problem, according to lawmakers.
HM Revenue & Customs estimated that it is losing £5.5 billion ($6.8 billion) a year to tax evasion but evidence from a crackdown on VAT in 2021 suggests the real number might be far higher, the cross-party group of Members of Parliament on the Public Accounts Committee said.