Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 21
21
HMRC's tax gap estimations, particularly for offshore and foreign income, remain uncertain.
Recommendation
HMRC said that its calculation of the tax gap uses estimation and judgement, and that some parts of it are more certain than others.62 It said in October 2024 it published experimental statistics on the proportion of the tax gap that comes from foreign income. In monetary terms, HMRC 55 Q 36 56 Report on 2023–24 Accounts, para 5 57 Q 15 58 Q 19; Report on 2023–24 Accounts, para 5 59 Qq 16, 19, 33 60 Qq 21-22 61 Q 29 62 Q 20 14 estimated this at £0.3 billion. HMRC said this represents only one aspect of the offshore tax gap and is uncertain, and that the data published in 2024 relates to undeclared or under-declared tax in the year 2018–19.63
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 6 May 2025. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document ↗