HMRC secures record tax revenues by cracking down on tax dodgers
27 May 2014 02:27 PM
The record breaking
£23.9 billion tax revenue comes as HMRC publishes ‘HMRC fast facts:
Record compliance revenues for the UK.’
New figures published today
(Tuesday 27 May) show that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) secured a record
£23.9 billion in additional tax revenue over the last year as a result of
increased activity to make sure people pay the taxes they owe.
The additional tax – the
tax that HMRC secures as a result of its investigations, on top of
the tax collected from those who pay their taxes on time – is up
£3.2 billion on the previous year, up £9 billion on three years ago
and nearly £1billion above the target set at Autumn Statement
2013.
More than £8 billion has
been secured from large business, over £1billion from criminals and
£2.7billion from tackling avoidance schemes in the
courts. HMRC’s compliance activity has resulted in a number of
tribunal wins, and also seen corporation tax and stamp duty land tax loopholes
closed, protecting the Exchequer from tax going unpaid.
Exchequer Secretary to the
Treasury, David Gauke, said:
The government supports the
hardworking, honest majority of taxpayers that play by the rules, and is
determined to tackle the minority that seek to avoid paying the taxes they
owe.
We set HMRC ambitious
targets to increase its yield and the figures published today demonstrate
that HMRC is successfully meeting these challenges.
It also sends a clear signal
– HMRC will pursue those seeking to avoid their
responsibilities and will collect the taxes that are due.
The record breaking tax revenue
comes as HMRC publishes ‘HMRC fast facts: Record compliance revenues for the
UK.’
Providing an overview
of HMRC’s compliance activities, the document highlights the
actions HMRC has already taken to tackle tax avoidance. This includes
launching taskforces, publishing the details of deliberate and serious
defaulters and challenging tax avoidance through the courts.
It also provides information on
future steps as the tax authority continues its fight against those who try to
cheat the system.
This includes tackling high-risk
promoters, tackling employment and offshore tax avoidance and issuing
accelerated payments for users of tax avoidance schemes.