Summary
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is not doing enough to tackle tax fraud, which accounts for at least £16 billion of uncollected tax each year. HMRC has made only limited progress in reducing the level of tax fraud losses which has remained relatively constant over the last 5 years, at around 3% of all tax liabilities. HMRC’s strategy for tackling tax fraud is unclear, particularly its approach to prosecutions where it does not know the number needed to provide an effective deterrent. The failure to prosecute more than one individual from the Falciani list, HMRC having closed this case and the Financial Conduct Authority no longer taking further action, creates the impression that the rich can get away with tax fraud. HMRC also needs to explain why the amount of tax it claims to have recovered from its compliance work rises sharply each year, but the size of the tax gap (the difference between the amount of tax that it collects and how much it should, in theory, collect) stays the same.
