The transparency registers that weren’t
UK ministers have praised five of the UK’s Overseas Territories for searchable registers revealing who really owns companies there. TaxWatch set out to see how these registers are working on the ground. One of the five registers, which ministers told Parliament was “fully public” and had been launched on 30 June, does not yet exist, and there are no plans to make it directly publicly searchable. In other cases, last-minute law changes have added major legal, evidential and cost hurdles to accessing the information.
The gap in the Tax Gap
Quietly buried in HMRC spreadsheets released today is the news that the UK Tax Gap is consistently much bigger than HMRC previously said. New evidence suggests that the government may be under-estimating by several billion pounds the amount of income hidden offshore, and non-compliance amongst the largest and wealthiest taxpayers.
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.
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
Private equity scores a huge Labour tax climbdown
Rachel Reeves gives unprecedented new tax discount to a few thousand fund managers worth nearly £500m a year by 2028-29 by moving, rather than closing, the ‘carried interest’ loophole
Declaring an interest – why HMRC’s hike in charges on late paid tax is so concerning
Autumn Budget increases interest charge on late paid tax debt, exacerbating problems with those struggling to pay. Interest seems to be used to raise revenue and drive compliance, a concerning development.
TaxWatch’s summary of the UK General Election party manifestos
TaxWatch reflects on the party manifestos for the upcoming General Election