Recommendations & Conclusions
20 items
2
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
HMRC does not know the relative size of tax gaps in the four nations of the UK or across different industries. HMRC already publishes breakdowns of the tax gap by taxpayer group, tax type and behaviour. However, HMRC does not calculate or publish estimates of the tax gap for each …
Government response. 2020. Funding offered is determined by an objective formula, based on assessment of the Town Investment Plan. Feedback is provided on request. 2.4 In relation to funding decisions on the Towns Fund and similar local growth programmes, the department will …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
In addition, HMRC does not publish any tax gap analysis for different types of industry. For example, HMRC has not published an estimated tax gap for the construction industry despite introducing the construction industry scheme to deal with high levels of non-compliance. Recommendation: HMRC should include analysis of the tax …
Government response. 2. 1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2. 2 In Measuring tax gaps 2020 edition, the department provided tax gap estimates by tax type, taxpayer group and behaviour. As tax gap models are built to estimate the total …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
HMRC does not include sophisticated and undesirable tax planning by the wealthy and large businesses in its estimates of the tax gap. HMRC’s tax gap measures the uncollected revenue due to taxpayers’ non-compliance with existing rules. HMRC does not assess the gap where taxpayers make lawful use of tax allowances …
Government response. 3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 The department already provides an estimate of revenue loss that results when taxpayers do not follow the spirit of the law, this is the avoidance tax gap. In the …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
Although HMRC has yet to see the full effects of COVID-19 on taxpayer compliance, it is already estimating up to £3.5 billion of fraud and error in furlough payments and has seen a significant drop in compliance yield in the first quarter of 2020–21.1 HMRC’s COVID-19 support schemes have led …
Government response. 2021. The department will use the annual update to keep the Committee informed of the success of the Fund with evidence from the monitoring and evaluation process.
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
It is not clear that Making Tax Digital will help reduce the tax gap or taxpayer costs at a time when individual taxpayers and small businesses are under considerable pressure. HMRC’s primary objective for the ‘Making Tax Digital’ programme is to help reduce the tax gap attributable to small businesses …
Government response. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Ta rget implementation date: Summer 2021 5.2 In July 2020, the government published Building a trusted, modern tax administration system, a vision for the future of tax administration, designed to improve resilience …
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
HMRC’s plans to tackle the part of the tax gap attributable to small businesses are made more difficult by the need to help those businesses survive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. HMRC estimates that 43% of the tax gap in 2018– 19 was attributable to small businesses (£13.4 billion). …
Government response. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Re commendation Implemented 6.2 As requested, the department wrote to the Committee to this effect on 10 November 2020. The department recognises that COVID-19 is having a huge effect on small businesses, …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from HM Revenue & Customs (the Department) and HM Treasury on tackling the tax gap.2
Government response. Introduction from the Committee HMRC is responsible for administering the UK’s tax system. One of its three departmental objectives is to “collect revenues due and bear down on avoidance and evasion”. HM Treasury leads on the design of the tax …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
HMRC measures the additional amount it generates by tackling tax avoidance, evasion and non-compliance, known as compliance yield. In its 2018–19 Annual Report, HMRC reported £34.1 billion of compliance yield, compared with £30.3 billion in the previous year.12 HMRC confirmed to us that it does not provide confidence intervals for …
Government response. 1.5 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 1.6 Compliance yield is an estimate of the impact of activity undertaken by HMRC to collect or protect re venues that would have otherwise been lost to the UK through tax avoidance, …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
HMRC publishes a breakdown of the tax gap by taxpayer group, tax type and behaviour.16 HMRC told us that it uses the outcomes of its tax gap analysis as indicators 7 Q 23; C&AG’s Report, para 1.12 8 Qq 23–25 9 C&AG’s Report, para 1.14 10 Q 23; C&AG’s Report, …
Government response. 2. 1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2. 2 In Measuring tax gaps 2020 edition, the department provided tax gap estimates by tax type, taxpayer group and behaviour. As tax gap models are built to estimate the total …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
It also transpired, when we questioned the Department about the size of the tax gap in the construction industry, that HMRC does not assess and publish the relative size of the tax gap across different industries. The construction industry has traditionally had quite high levels of non-compliance. HMRC introduced the …
Government response. 2. 1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 2. 2 In Measuring tax gaps 2020 edition, the department provided tax gap estimates by tax type, taxpayer group and behaviour. As tax gap models are built to estimate the total …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
HMRC’s estimate of the tax gap includes both non-compliance with the letter of the law, such as tax evasion, and non-compliance with the spirit of the law, such as tax avoidance.22 We asked the Department the extent to which the practice of ‘base erosion and profit shifting’ is captured in …
Government response. 3.2 The department already provides an estimate of revenue loss that results when taxpayers do not follow the spirit of the law, this is the avoidance tax gap. In the department’s Measuring tax gaps publication, tax avoidance is defined as …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
HMRC’s tax gap does not capture the ‘policy gap’, which HMRC characterised as the tax loss that is not due, but which might be due if the tax rules could be tightened up. HMRC confirmed to us that there is more “taxable capacity” in multinationals than the 17 Qq 19, …
Government response. 3. 1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 The department already provides an estimate of revenue loss that results when taxpayers do not follow the spirit of the law, this is the avoidance tax gap. In …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
The COVID-19 pandemic may increase the risks of non-payment of taxes and more people may operate in the deliberately hidden part of the economy.26 We asked HMRC about its assessment of the impact of the pandemic on the size of the tax gap and compliance yield. The Department told us …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation Implemented 4.2 The department regularly publishes how the compliance approach has changed in light of COVID 19 on GOV.UK. This was last updated on 11 November 2020. 4.3 The department plans …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
During the pandemic, HMRC told us that it had to redeploy its resources from frontline activities, such as collection of tax, to work supporting taxpayers through the COVID support schemes. HMRC expects a reduction on compliance yield in 2020–21 compared with previous years.30 HMRC’s compliance yield dropped by 51% in …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation Implemented 4.2 The department regularly publishes how the compliance approach has changed in light of COVID 19 on GOV.UK. This was last updated on 11 November 2020. 4.3 The department plans …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
HMRC explained to us that its overall approach to ensuring taxpayers’ compliance with the tax laws is predicated on promoting voluntary compliance through promoting trust in the tax system and supporting taxpayers that want to comply. It aims to deter those that may not want to comply by highlighting the …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
HMRC is implementing an ambitious initiative, Making Tax Digital, to help tackle error and failure to take reasonable care, particularly in the small business population. Small businesses accounted for the largest share of the tax gap (£13.4 billion; 43%) in 2018–19.35 They will be required to use accounting software to …
Government response. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Ta rget implementation date: Summer 2021 5.2 In July 2020, the government published Building a trusted, modern tax administration system, a vision for the future of tax administration, designed to improve resilience …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
We questioned the Department about the effectiveness of Making Tax Digital in closing the tax gap, particularly in tackling tax evasion. HMRC explained that the programme is not designed to tackle tax evasion by small businesses. Other solutions are required to address the risk of tax evasion. The aim of …
Government response. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Ta rget implementation date: Summer 2021 5.2 In July 2020, the government published Building a trusted, modern tax administration system, a vision for the future of tax administration, designed to improve resilience …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
We also received written evidence from the Chartered Institute of Taxation, which highlighted the findings of a survey of businesses and agents with an interest in the programme that they had carried out jointly with the Association of Taxation Technicians during December 2019 and January 2020.40 The findings of the …
Government response. 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Ta rget implementation date: Summer 2021 5.2 In July 2020, the government published Building a trusted, modern tax administration system, a vision for the future of tax administration, designed to improve resilience …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
Small businesses accounted for the largest share of the tax gap in 2018–19.42 The tax gap attributable to small businesses was 43% (£13.4 billion) of the total tax gap in 2018–19 and has remained fairly stable as a percentage of the total tax gap for a number of years. Furthermore, …
Government response. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Re commendation Implemented 6.2 As requested, the department wrote to the Committee to this effect on 10 November 2020. The department recognises that COVID-19 is having a huge effect on small businesses, …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Twentieth Report - Tackling the tax gap
We asked HMRC whether it is doing enough to tackle small businesses that operate in the hidden economy and deliberately evade their responsibilities. HMRC told us that about 8,000 of its staff concentrate on ensuring compliance in the small business sector, including those businesses active in the hidden economy. It …
Government response. 6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Re commendation Implemented 6.2 As requested, the department wrote to the Committee to this effect on 10 November 2020. The department recognises that COVID-19 is having a huge effect on small businesses, …
HM Treasury