The latest figure confirmed by the tax authority appeared in its annual report last year but was published again in a document on 12 January 2021 entitled HMRC’s responses to inaccurate claims, and revealed that £4.3bn of the £5.8bn lost to fraud looks set to never be recovered

Under the heading, ‘HMRC has successfully tackled coronavirus help scheme fraud and error’ HMRC explained that it had already recovered £500m worth of overpayments in 2020-21 and that the tax authority’s Taxpayer Protection Taskforce is expected to recover £800m to £1.5bn between 2021-23.

This figure represents only 22% to 26% of the suspected amount lost to fraud and error or around just £1 recovered for every £4 lost.