TaxWatch published an article in Taxation magazine last week about the launch of the Funding the Nation report by ARC, the union for senior staff within HMRC.
The report identifies changes required to turn HMRC into a world class tax authority after years of underinvestment. It includes contributions from TaxWatch and many others involved in the tax world.
New figures show that HMRC’s efforts to make taxpayers pay the right tax brought in £22 for every £1 spent last year. That’s exceptional value for money. Nonetheless beneath the headline numbers there’s a more complicated story about how HMRC’s tax compliance efforts are changing.
HMRC’s latest figures present a very different picture to previous years. The amount of due taxes going unpaid may be £6 billion bigger than previously thought — and going up, not down. Any incoming prime minister (or Chancellor) will have to go faster and further to tackle tax non-compliance if they want to stick to current spending commitments, let alone introduce new ones.