The tax gap was £35bn in 2009/10, according to HMRC’s estimate released today. The department has revised its £42bn estimate for the previous year to £39bn.
HMRC do not recognise or give ‘proper credit’ for a tax agent’s membership of a professional body, the ICAEW Tax Faculty said in response to the department’s consultation on a strategy for engaging with tax agents.
HMRC have flagged new penalties taking effect this autumn for late tax returns and late payments by individuals and businesses:
‘The new penalties for late self assessment returns are:
HMRC and the tax bodies share an enthusiasm to ‘press ahead’ with a new initiative to resolve longstanding HMRC service delivery issues, a leading expert has told Tax Journal.
Estimating the tax gap provides an important tool in understanding the causes of non-compliance and helping HMRC to focus on ways of reducing it, Dave Hartnett told the Treasury Sub-Committee yesterday.
The work of HMRC’s High Net Worth Unit produced ‘additional tax yield’ of £162m in 2010/11, according to a Commons written answer.
HMRC are reminding VAT ‘rule-breakers’ that they must notify HMRC by 30 September that they plan to make a voluntary disclosure if they wish to take part in the disclosure initiative launched in July.
John Cassidy reviews the raft of recent case law on this issue