The main focus will be on accessing more data about the self employed, partnerships and those earning dividends, as well as the number of hours worked by employees, their job titles and the locations of businesses.

This would inevitably raise administrative costs for businesses and individuals who have to comply with the rules, and there would be a penalty system for non-compliance.

The proposal is to add a compulsory field to real time information (RTI), the reporting mechanism for PAYE, requesting the occupation of each employee. This would have to be completed by employers, but it is hard to understand why the tax authority would need such information.