News

Read more about TaxWatch’s work, including reports, analysis and comment pieces.

Curiously incurious: HMRC’s failures on tax evasion

The latest report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) paints a concerning picture of tax evasion in the UK retail sector. It highlights significant gaps in enforcement, underestimated scale of evasion, and a worrying decline in prosecutions. The report raises significant concerns about HMRC’s seemingly incurious approach to the scale of tax evasion.

Transforming Tax: HMRC’s digital and compliance revolution under scrutiny

A new report released today shows that HMRC’s costs are rising, but questions their efficiency and approaches to digitisation and compliance.

Late filing penalties where no tax is due: time for a different approach?

HMRC levy over £100m of penalties for late filing on 1.1 million individuals many of whom won’t owe any income tax. Such a policy is bad for our tax regime overall and undermines trust, it needs to change.

Labour’s softening on non-doms: interest groups over evidence or principle?

Rachel Reeves gives ground in replacement for the ‘non-dom’ rules in response to fearmongering ‘research’ claiming exodus of wealthy from the UK

Not pulling punches: Public Accounts Committee slams HMRC’s kid gloves approach to tax gap and criminal prosecutions

HMRC’s offshore tax gap estimate labelled “implausibly low” and raises concerns raised about lack of strategy for reducing the tax gap and lack of prosecutions

Anything to declare? HMRC slips out new R&D relief disclosure facility on New Year’s Eve…

Businesses who overclaimed R&D tax relief invited to disclose and repay with HMRC’s new disclosure facility, although it might not prove as popular as the Government hopes

A ‘guestimate not an estimate?’ PAC grills HMRC top brass about its lack of strategy on tax evasion in online retail

Public Accounts committee grill HMRC for not having a strategic plan nor reliable estimate for on tax evasion in online retail sector.

Private equity scores a huge Labour tax climbdown

Rachel Reeves gives unprecedented new tax discount to a few thousand fund managers worth nearly £500m a year by 2028-29 by moving, rather than closing, the ‘carried interest’ loophole

Raising Standards in the UK Tax Advice Market: The Government’s next steps appear to be a march into the long grass

The Government’s next steps to regulate and improve standards in the UK tax advice market betray the aims and findings of the recent consultation and demonstrate a lack of political will on the issue.

Declaring an interest – why HMRC’s hike in charges on late paid tax is so concerning

Autumn Budget increases interest charge on late paid tax debt, exacerbating problems with those struggling to pay. Interest seems to be used to raise revenue and drive compliance, a concerning development.

TaxWatch’s initial reaction to Autumn Budget 2024

Rachel Reeves’ first Autumn Budget makes for a mixed bag of delivering a fairer tax system whilst raising government revenue

New statistics show £300m lost to offshore tax gap on over 7million accounts held overseas likely to be gross underestimate

HMRC’s first estimate of the offshore tax gap for 2018, seems a wild underestimate at just £300 million based on questionable methodological choices.