We will not publish anonymised corporate tax figures, says Gauke

The government will not publish anonymised data on the corporation tax paid by FTSE 100 companies, David Gauke said in Commons written answer this week.

George Mudie, Labour MP and a member of the Commons Treasury Committee, asked the Chancellor ‘if he will publish anonymised data on how much corporation tax was paid by each FTSE 100 company in each of the last five years’.

The Exchequer Secretary replied: ‘We will not be publishing anonymised data on the corporation tax paid by FTSE 100 companies.

‘HMRC has a statutory duty to maintain taxpayer confidentiality and may not disclose information unless the limited and controlled circumstances set out in the statute creating HMRC apply. It is a criminal offence for HMRC staff unlawfully to disclose any information about a taxpayer who is identified in the disclosure or whose identity can be deduced from it.

‘Even if the information about the corporation tax paid is anonymised, it will be possible to match it with other information already in the public domain to identify the FTSE 100 company.’