Extra funding for HMRC has raked in £45.7bn in tax probes in 2024, a £10bn rise from the previous year, while over £10bn more in VAT may yet be recovered from large businesses
Some 5,000 more compliance officers are on the way to HMRC across the next five years, with £45.7bn being recovered over the year until September 2024 HMRC.
The extra funding is predicted to bring in an extra £2.7bn per year, roughly 7% of the tax gap.
Steven Porter, head of contentious tax team at Pinsent Masons said: ‘Recent increases in funding have been geared towards HMRC’s tax compliance teams and we can expect that trend to continue.
‘The new government have made their aim clear – to close the tax gap by putting a real squeeze on tax evasion and tax avoidance.’
But with an estimated £10.1bn in VAT not being paid over the year until March 2024 new compliance officers will have to hit the ground running to make up the speed at which the tax gap is growing. In 2023 HMRC estimated underpaid VAT to be at £8.1bn, a rise of 20% in just one year.
