Impact on GILTS in the event of IMF Bailout

GeoffTF

NedS said:

MattMattMattUK said:

Something as simple as the amount of tax that goes unpaid being around £45-55 billion per year, HMRC estimate with another £350 million for their recovery department they could recover £20-25 billion of that and £15 million for investigations could recover £2.5-3 billion from tax evasion (based on HMRC's estimate of £5.9 billion in tax evasion per year, other estimates place UK tax evasion at £10-15 billion per year so additional revenue would be even higher). 

I agree. DWP have spent a significant amount trying to reduce benefit fraud estimated to be only a tenth of that level, yet HMRC are woefully under-funded and under-resourced to investigate and prosecute tax evasion. I guess it's a priority to go after those pesky benefit cheats but tax evasion is OK. The cynic in me says too many politicians may get caught in the net if they cast it too widely so better to stick to chasing benefit cheats.

It is generally the rich and educated that benefit from complex tax laws and the concomitant loopholes, so there is a self interest in maintaining those loopholes whilst taxing the heck out of the working and middle classes.

That is not a fair assessment:

"Collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals":

https://www.nao.org.uk/reports/collecting-the-right-tax-from-wealthy-individuals/

It is illegal to use "loopholes" in a way that was not intended by Parliament:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-avoidance-an-introduction