£35bn in taxes goes unpaid
THE taxman has failed to collect £35billion in revenues, a damning report reveals today.
The colossal sum, enough to pay for more than 1,000 new secondary schools or the salaries of 850,000
nurses, is the amount unclaimed by HM Revenue and Customs over the past five years, says the influential
Commons public accounts committee.
It praised an HM Revenue and Customs crackdown which brought in an extra £4.32billion in five years – 11 times
what it cost.
The Department must consider whether further staff cuts will deliver value for money
But it said the decision to axe 3,300 posts at the same time appeared to have undermined its effectiveness,
meaning that £1.1billion less unpaid tax was recouped than could have been found.
Labour committee chief Margaret Hodge said: “The Department must consider whether further staff cuts will deliver value for money.”