by Dr Pete Sproat | Mar 28, 2024
HMRC delaying publishing data on use of tax avoidance schemes Increased civil action likely only containing total number of schemes at best Evidence suggests no criminal prosecutions of promoters of tax avoidance in last five years £1m penalty charged on a promoter...
by Claire Aston | Mar 14, 2024
TaxWatch notes with interest the launch of a Government consultation to strengthen regulations in the tax advice sector, with an alarming 25% of tax liabilities being non-compliant for businesses within self-assessment. Given the 30-month hiatus since the outcome of...
by Claire Aston | Mar 6, 2024
Responding to today’s Spring Budget 2024, the TaxWatch team focuses its thoughts on a few areas it found particularly interesting, from a tax compliance and administration standpoint. Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) As speculated in recent days, the Chancellor...
by Claire Aston | Feb 28, 2024
40% reduction in civil servants defined as ‘tax professionals’ from 2016 to 2023 The overall HMRC workforce has shrunk since 2010, despite the challenges of the department’s workload increasing as the tax regime has become more complex Salaries paid to senior HMRC...
by Claire Aston | Feb 26, 2024
Following our recent article on customer service, the other side of the coin in terms of HMRC effectiveness relates to its compliance activity. Current Tax Gap is 4.8%, or £36bn for 2021/22 HMRC neither resourced nor tasked to reduce the Tax Gap below its current...
by Claire Aston | Feb 21, 2024
It’s good to see national newspapers showing an interest in HMRC performance data and raising important issues about properly funding our tax authority. However, a recent article in The Guardian about trends in case numbers opened by a niche HMRC team requires a bit...
