Up to £5.5bn is estimated have been lost through tax evasion with 81% being down to small businesses avoiding and evading tax with takeaways, small retailers and candy shops the worst, NAO report finds
HMRC has come in for criticism from the National Audit Office (NAO), which says officials at the tax authority do not have a ‘specific strategy’ to tackle small business avoidance and evasion.
Takeaway restaurants and sweet shops are some of the biggest high street offenders, but efforts to close them down have been difficult, particularly with an explosion in the number of company registrations in the sector from overseas.
Although HMRC considers the level of tax evasion as ‘stable’, it does recognise its estimations could be incorrect, while a specific strategy is not used to tackle the issue, with no objectives or methods to assess performance.
The likelihood is that tighter controls and more compliance work could raise significant sums and would be cost-effective and improve value for money.
