Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who attended HMRC's stakeholder conference this year.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are unable to provide specific details of the individuals who attended as this would be in breach of GDPR rules.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions for money laundering offences HM Revenue and Customs have brought against individuals in each year since 2013; and how many of those prosecutions resulted in a conviction in each of those years.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC takes a flexible and dynamic resourcing approach to criminally investigating suspected tax crimes and associated money laundering. While HMRC is not a prosecuting authority, we prepare the cases to the highest evidential standard and pass the case to the relevant independent prosecuting authority to decide if the case satisfies the two-stage test for prosecution.
The following is aggregate data for HMRC’s investigations, since 2013 that resulted in a prosecution and conviction for either money laundering offences as set out in Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, or prosecutable breaches of supervisory requirement in various versions of the Money Laundering Regulations.
Year | No. of positive charging decisions[2] | No. of convictions[3] |
2012-13 | 23 | 10 |
2013-14 | 33 | 33 |
2014-15 | 30 | 17 |
2015-16 | 65 | 32 |
2016-17 | 29 | 35 |
2017-18 | 80 | 18 |
2018-19 | 69 | 32 |
2019-20 | 25 | 31 |
2020-21 | 22 | 19 |
2021-22 | 19 | 24 |
2022-23 | 34 | 32 |
To note, criminal investigations can take considerable time to progress and can conclude in a year other than the one in which they are opened. As such there is no direct correlation between yearly figures presented in the table.
[2]cases where the prosecuting authority has agreed to a money laundering or money laundering regulations charge against defendants.
[3] successfully concluded criminal investigations.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many penalties have been issued by HMRC against UK-based entities that facilitate tax avoidance schemes involving non-resident promoters since the coming into force of schedule 13 of the Finance Act 2022; and what the total value of those penalties is.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As a result of the action the Government has taken to clamp down on marketed tax avoidance, the estimated tax gap from marketed avoidance sold primarily to individuals has fallen from an estimated £1.5 billion in 2005-06 to £0.5 billion in 2021-22.
The primary purpose of the penalty is to deter UK based entities from acting on behalf of offshore promoters and so make it more difficult for these promoters to sell their schemes in the UK; however, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a wide-ranging approach to tackling promoters of tax avoidance.
For example, as of 31 December 2023, HMRC has published the names of 59 promoters, 23 directors and details of 64 tax avoidance schemes. Publishing this information supports taxpayers in identifying tax avoidance schemes so they can steer clear of or exit them.
Furthermore, Finance Act 2024 has introduced tougher consequences for promoters of tax avoidance. This includes a new criminal offence to strengthen the deterrent to promoting tax avoidance, making it clear promoters must stop promoting these schemes, and a power enabling HMRC to act more quickly to disqualify directors of companies involved in tax avoidance.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress his Department and the National Crime Agency have made on securing the £5.6 million forfeiture against assets held by Javanshir Feyziyev and his family; whether the location of these funds has been identified; and what plans his Department has for the (a) management and (b) disposal of those funds.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The National Crime Agency applied for a forfeiture order on assets held by Javanshir Feyziyev which has been granted. The forfeiture amount of £5,630,994.19 has been deposited and disposed of.
Funds recovered under the powers in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) are entered into the HO Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS). ARIS is a discretionary funding model that’s objective is to provide agencies (prosecuting, investigating and enforcement) with incentives to use POCA powers to pursue asset recovery with the overall aim of cutting crime and delivering justice. ARIS receipts are split 50:50 between operational partners involved in the asset recovery process, and central government.
Further information on ARIS can be found at: Asset recovery statistical bulletin: financial years ending 2018 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have been convicted of offences relating to arrangements which have been marketed as tax avoidance since the formation of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service on 1 April 2016.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Promotion or operation of mass marketed tax avoidance schemes is not in, or of itself, a criminal offence. However, there are a range of offences which might be committed by those who promote tax avoidance schemes or advise on their use.
Since the formation of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service on 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance. These have resulted in over 100 years of custodial sentences and 9 years of suspended sentences being ordered, the majority of which relate to promoters.
Prosecutions are only one type of intervention available to HMRC where they identify concerns.