Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Accepted
HMRC completed significantly fewer tax-related prosecutions during the pandemic years.
Conclusion
Over the two pandemic years, HMRC completed around 1,000 fewer prosecutions for tax-related offences than before the pandemic. In 2020–21 and 2021–22, it concluded just 163 and 236 prosecutions respectively, compared with around 700 a year in the two years before the pandemic.14 HMRC told us that court closures and reduced court capacity during the pandemic affected the extent to which it could progress prosecutions through the courts, which therefore constrained the numbers it could complete.15
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observation, stating that tax crime prosecutions are expected to increase with a focus on high-harm cases and HMRC will commence new work in 2023-24 to understand the deterrent effect of its criminal investigations by June 2024.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: June 2024 2.2 Tax crime prosecutions are expected to increase in future years with a focus on the highest-harm and most serious cases of fraud. HMRC will commence new work in the 2023-24 financial year to understand the deterrent effect of the department’s criminal investigations resulting in prosecutions. The exact timeframe and scope of this work (including the methodological approach required) will be informed by an initial internal analysis and is dependent on the availability of appropriate data.