The recent parliamentary debate on HMRC

The correlation between HMRC service levels and the funding cuts since its formation in 2005 seems so obvious to many of us that it hardly needs stating but politicians have by and large been reluctant to acknowledge any connection. 

The Westminster Hall debate on 5 February on HMRC provided a perfect opportunity for that to change and John McDonnell MP did not disappoint acknowledging right at the outset that tax collection and administration ‘has been mismanaged by politicians over the past few decades’. Citing the ICAEW’s view (set out in its briefing for MPs) that the system is not working he asked ‘Why not?’ and opined that ‘one reason is the scale of the cuts’. He felt that that ‘HMRC is...