Additional resources allocated to HMRC to combat tax avoidance and evasion are expected to generate an extra £2bn according to the Budget 2017’s costings, reports Calum Fuller
The measure forms part of a wider set of measures which the Chancellor Philip Hammond expects will raise £4.8bn by 2023.
The extra resource includes cash for new technology to tackle tax leakage through avoidance and evasion.
In particular, the resource is earmarked for further tackling those who are engaging in marketed tax avoidance schemes, enhancing efforts to tackle the enablers of tax fraud and hold intermediaries accountable for the services they provide using the corporate criminal offence and increasing HMRC’s ability to tackle non-compliance among mid-size businesses and wealthy individuals.
A new taskforce will also be launched to specifically tackle tax debts more than nine months old.
To achieve this, the government is investing an extra £155m. Moreover, HMRC will be given greater access to real-time information in its efforts to curtail tax avoidance and evasion.
In all, the use of real-time information is expected to generate £265m over the course of the parliament, made up of £85m in 2018-19, £75m in 2019-20, £65m in 2020-21 and £40m in 2021-22.
Frank Haskew, head of ICAEW tax faculty, said: ‘The public is rightly concerned about tax avoidance, and we support efforts to tackle it. ICAEW already has the professional conduct in relation to tax and we have been working with government and HMRC to ensure that our code continues to be fit for purpose and retains confidence.
‘The government needs to ensure any sanctions are properly targeted at those advisors that promote aggressive tax schemes and do not focus on reputable professional advisers who advise on legitimate tax planning. Individuals and companies who take advantage of any country’s public services have a responsibility to pay tax in those countries that fund those services.’
Giovanni Bracco, tax partner at PwC, said: ‘We've seen a shift in HMRC focus lately towards high risk areas, spending time and energy where they're likely to see the biggest returns.
‘As the Chancellor tasks HMRC with bringing in an additional £4.8bn of revenue from targeted anti-avoidance measures, while also dealing with the task of Brexit, ensuring that officers aren't left too thin on the ground will be critical to meeting those targets and maintaining taxpayer engagement.’
Report by Calum Fuller
