by Mike Lewis | Jun 11, 2025
Responding to today’s Comprehensive Spending Review (Wednesday 11 June 2025), TaxWatch Director Mike Lewis said: With the Chancellor’s commitment to paying for day-to-day spending only through tax receipts, shrinking the £40 billion tax gap and £38...
by Mike Lewis | May 23, 2025
Previously we found that HMRC is hardly using powers to investigate, penalise and publicise tax advisers who enable tax abuse. Here we look at why these powers aren’t being used: a barrage of legal roadblocks; and holding back on naming and shaming. *** When tax...
by Mike Lewis | May 16, 2025
HMRC is recovering more missing tax from wealthy individuals than previously: £5.2 billion in 2023/24. But beneath the headlines: the tax this group is underpaying may be larger than previously thought, and is likely growing, while penalties for their non-compliance...
by Mike Lewis | May 14, 2025
The government wants to step up the fight against enablers of tax abuse (again). New powers and better information can help. But HMRC is barely using some of the powers and penalties it already has. *** Laws that aren’t enforced are simply polite recommendations....
by Claire Aston | Apr 3, 2025
The UK government’s apparent willingness to reduce the Digital Services Tax (DST) rate to placate the Trump administration and potentially secure exemptions from US tariffs represents a concerning development in UK’s tax policy. As recently reported by The...
by Claire Aston | Mar 26, 2025
Photo credit: HM Treasury HMRC’s target for prosecution ‘charging decisions’ to be set 20% above the rates achieved in 2023-24. These rates have collapsed since pre-pandemic. It will be 2029 before HMRC’s target returns to the rate achieved in 2019-20 – a lost decade,...
