Since Roman times, governments have struggled to balance the need to collect as much tax as possible with the political desire to be popular with the masses.

In the sphere of large business taxation, the numerous announcements of administrative changes by HM Revenue & Customs over the last few years seem to demonstrate recognition of this fact from the nation’s tax gatherer. Are its efforts in recent years just a PR exercise to boost its credentials with big business or does the reality match up to the hype?