The government has considered the Treasury Sub-Committee's (TSC's) report titled 'Disputing Tax' (the report), published on 31 July 2019.
This paper sets out the government's response to each of the Committee's conclusions and recommendations.
Paragraph numbers refer to the report.
Disputing Tax
Recommendation 1 (paragraph 10)
It is important for Parliament and taxpayers to be confident that HMRC has a robust picture of the number of people that are involved in tax avoidance schemes or whose past involvement in tax avoidance remains unresolved, how much tax is at risk, and the years involved.
It is equally important to know all the parties involved, which of those parties may ultimately be liable to pay any unpaid tax and what means they have to settle. That information is not only necessary to ensure that HMRC puts in place efficient and proportionate arrangements to conduct enquiries and collect any tax found to be due, but also to allow proper transparency and scrutiny of the performance of HMRC.
We recommend that HMRC should write to the Treasury Committee on an annual basis with a summary of the number and characteristics (sector, income, profile etc) of people it knows to be involved in tax avoidance schemes.
Government response
The government partially accepts this recommendation.
HMRC agrees to publish
