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.
State of Tax Administration 2024: Rising tax debts, falling customer services and misfiring compliance
TaxWatch launches our State of Tax Administration report, analysing HMRC’s performance in 2023-24
New statistics show HMRC’s clampdown on R&D claims beginning to take effect
Latest HMRC figures show the cost of R&D relief claims increasing but in relation to fewer claims being made for 2022-23. This implies HMRC’s compliance changes are discouraging claims that are less likely to be qualifying, especially those of lower value or in particular sectors.
Sweet Deception: £4.4bn tax evasion leaves a sour taste for HMRC
NAO calls out HMRC for not having a strategic plan on tax evasion.
The SME R&D tax relief scheme: lessons in how not to implement a tax relief
Once again, the National Audit Office qualified HMRC’s accounts due to a “material level of error and fraud in Corporation Tax research and development reliefs”. Whilst the good news is that the estimated error rate within the relief is coming down it remains unacceptably high. It has taken years for HMRC to admit there were problems, despite plenty of warnings, and action has been too slow to avoid the situation getting totally out of hand.
Mining the gap
TaxWatch analyses the latest tax gap data and examines manifesto pledges to narrow the gap to see whether they represent credible plans to increase tax revenues
HMRC’s 2024 Tax Gap report: Amount of tax going unpaid hits record high at £39.8bn in 2022-23
TaxWatch analyses the latest Tax Gap publication, noting it has reached £40bn in 2022-23 yet still doesn’t cover offshore matters