HMRC claws back £540m in unpaid tax

07 Jun 2016

HMRC has reportedly recouped more than £540 million through its so-called tax taskforces, new figures have revealed.

Launched five years ago, the taskforces bring together a number of compliance and enforcement teams with the aim of targeting specific sectors that have been identified as being at risk of tax fraud.

More than 140 taskforces have now been launched since 2011.

In a statement, HMRC said its taskforces had raised almost £250 million alone during 2015/16 – up from £138.1 million the previous year.

Commenting, Jennie Granger, Director General for Enforcement and Compliance at HMRC, said: ‘The message is clear: if you try to cheat on your tax, we are going to catch you. A small number of people still think they can cheat the tax system; these figures prove we can track them down and take back what they owe.

‘We have increasing levels of intelligence, and use state-of-the-art digital tools to help us to identify and target high-risk areas’.

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