Unpaid Tax

Lord Watts Excerpts

Monday 7th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

After the measures we took in the Budget and the Spring Statement, no one could possibly say that we are not sufficiently resourcing the fight against the tax gap. As I said in my original Answer to my noble friend, the National Audit Office recognises in its report that this Government are scaling up compliance activity to tackle serious offshore non-compliance and have committed further funding to do so. It also recognises many of the measures we are taking, including, as I said earlier, significant additional investment in compliance officers by the end of the Parliament. The noble Lord will recognise that this is the most ambitious package to close the tax gap ever; we have committed an additional £660 million each year for measures to do so and by the end of the Parliament we will raise an additional £7.5 billion a year.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not disgraceful that some of the richest people in Britain get honours despite registering for tax purposes in places such as Monaco? As well as that, they are usually first in the queue for tax payouts if they want a subsidy for their business. Is it not time that we took a tougher line on these freeloaders?

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I do not think the honours system is for me to comment on. The noble Lord will be pleased to know that we are taking the action I have already described, and we also intend to take further action to close the tax gap. At the Spring Statement, we published consultations on a wide range of issues, including widening the use of third-party data to help HMRC reduce error; strengthening HMRC’s ability to act against those tax advisors who facilitate non-compliance; and closing in on promoters of marketed tax avoidance.