News

Read more about TaxWatch’s work, including reports, analysis and comment pieces.

Glass half full? Are wealthy taxpayers underpaying more tax than we thought

HMRC is recovering more missing tax from wealthy individuals. 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 have plummeted.

Back to the drawing board

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 the powers and penalties it already has.

Reducing UK’s Digital Services Tax: The high price of trade appeasement?

Scrapping the UK’s Digital Services Tax is the opposite of a good strategy in the face of a US trade war, when instead it should be reformed to operate better for the British public finances

Chancellor grasps at the magic money tree whilst tacitly admitting HMRC’s prosecution rates are so low they haven’t been deterring evasion.

Government’s Spring Statement hopes compliance and debt collection efforts pay off to recover more tax lost to avoidance

UK tax advice market needs urgent reform: TaxWatch’s new report highlights dangers of unregulated advisers and calls for change

TaxWatch launches new report illustrating the damage that a lack of regulatory oversight causes taxpayers seeking help to comply with their obligations & advocating for urgent widespread reform.

Curiously incurious: HMRC’s failures on tax evasion

The latest report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) paints a concerning picture of tax evasion in the UK retail sector. It highlights significant gaps in enforcement, underestimated scale of evasion, and a worrying decline in prosecutions. The report raises significant concerns about HMRC’s seemingly incurious approach to the scale of tax evasion.

Transforming Tax: HMRC’s digital and compliance revolution under scrutiny

A new report released today shows that HMRC’s costs are rising, but questions their efficiency and approaches to digitisation and compliance.

Late filing penalties where no tax is due: time for a different approach?

HMRC levy over £100m of penalties for late filing on 1.1 million individuals many of whom won’t owe any income tax. Such a policy is bad for our tax regime overall and undermines trust, it needs to change.

Labour’s softening on non-doms: interest groups over evidence or principle?

Rachel Reeves gives ground in replacement for the ‘non-dom’ rules in response to fearmongering ‘research’ claiming exodus of wealthy from the UK

Not pulling punches: Public Accounts Committee slams HMRC’s kid gloves approach to tax gap and criminal prosecutions

HMRC’s offshore tax gap estimate labelled “implausibly low” and raises concerns raised about lack of strategy for reducing the tax gap and lack of prosecutions

Anything to declare? HMRC slips out new R&D relief disclosure facility on New Year’s Eve…

Businesses who overclaimed R&D tax relief invited to disclose and repay with HMRC’s new disclosure facility, although it might not prove as popular as the Government hopes

A ‘guestimate not an estimate?’ PAC grills HMRC top brass about its lack of strategy on tax evasion in online retail

Public Accounts committee grill HMRC for not having a strategic plan nor reliable estimate for on tax evasion in online retail sector.