Recommendation 17

When we examined tax reliefs in June 2014, we found that many tax reliefs were introduced without clear objectives. As part of our evidence session in 2014, HM Treasury told us that it was rare to have detailed objectives for reliefs, which we noted was a cause for huge concern.30 In February 2020, the NAO reported that HMRC considers some tax reliefs to be difficult to evaluate because they have multiple or unclear objectives. For the new and revised tax reliefs NAO examined, HM Treasury had set objectives in general terms but did not provide baselines against which benefits could be measured. In its public reporting, HMRC describes reliefs but does not explain the objectives they are designed to achieve.31