Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff of each grade worked in the Large Business Service team of HM Revenue and Customs in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15 to date.
Answered by Priti Patel
Until 31 March 2014 HMRC’s Large Business Service dealt with the tax affairs of the 800 largest businesses in the UK.
From 1 April 2014 HMRC’s new Large Business directorate deals with the tax affairs of the 2,100 largest businesses in the UK.
LBS (a) 2010-11
Staff in Post end March 2011
SIP by Grade | SCS | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Band T | Senior Officer | Higher Officer | Officer | Assistant Officer | Admin Assistant | Total |
HC | 61 | 141 | 256 | 28 | 135 | 442 | 193 | 121 | 61 | 1438 |
FTE | 59.08 | 133.12 | 244.13 | 28.00 | 128.43 | 417.67 | 175.84 | 112.58 | 54.13 | 1352.98 |
LBS (b) 2011-12
Staff in Post end March 2012
SCS | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Band T | Senior Officer | Higher Officer | Officer | Assistant Officer | Admin Assistant | Total | |
HC | 63 | 126 | 238 | 21 | 120 | 389 | 180 | 110 | 59 | 1306 |
FTE | 60.89 | 117.75 | 225.91 | 21.00 | 111.23 | 362.47 | 161.24 | 100.34 | 50.89 | 1211.72 |
LBS (c) 2012-13
Staff in Post end March 2013
SCS | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Band T | Senior Officer | Higher Officer | Officer | Assistant Officer | Admin Assistant | Total | |
HC | 54 | 127 | 212 | 22 | 111 | 343 | 159 | 121 | 45 | 1194 |
FTE | 51.87 | 117.97 | 198.46 | 22.00 | 100.58 | 314.24 | 140.22 | 113.10 | 36.47 | 1094.91 |
LBS (d) 2013-14
Staff in Post end March 2014
SCS | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Band T | Senior Officer | Higher Officer | Officer | Assistant Officer | Admin Assistant | Total | |
HC | 52 | 156 | 258 | 12 | 125 | 389 | 167 | 118 | 26 | 1303 |
FTE | 50.33 | 148.24 | 243.01 | 12.00 | 113.88 | 356.82 | 147.68 | 105.61 | 20.19 | 1197.76 |
e) 2014-15 to date
Not Available
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff of each grade resigned from the Large Business Service team of HM Revenue and Customs in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15 to date.
Answered by Priti Patel
Until 31 March 2014 HMRC’s Large Business Service dealt with the tax affairs of the 800 largest businesses in the UK.
From 1 April 2014 HMRC’s new Large Business directorate deals with the tax affairs of the 2,100 largest businesses in the UK.
Large Business Service
Resignations by grade
(a) 2010-11
SCS | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Band T | Senior Officer | Higher Officer | Officer | Assistant Officer | Admin Assistant | Total | |
HC | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||||
FTE | 1.00 | 1.00 | 5.00 | 1.00 | 0.58 | 8.47 |
(b) 2011-12
SCS | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Band T | Senior Officer | Higher Officer | Officer | Assistant Officer | Admin Assistant | Total | |
HC | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |||
FTE | 0.8 | 1.41 | 0.65 | 2.00 | 1.6 | 1.58 | 8.04 |
(c) 2012-13
SCS | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Band T | Senior Officer | Higher Officer | Officer | Assistant Officer | Admin Assistant | Total | |
HC | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |||
FTE | 1 | 2.00 | 1.00 | 0.3 | 1.95 | 1.00 | 7.25 |
(d) 2013-14
SCS | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Band T | Senior Officer | Higher Officer | Officer | Assistant Officer | Admin Assistant | Total | |
HC | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 13 | |||
FTE | 0.86 | 1.28 | 2.00 | 1.69 | 2.61 | 3 | 11.44 |
(e) 2014-15 to date
Not Available
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, under what conditions the Government was provided with files related to HSBC and tax evasion.
Answered by David Gauke
Information provided to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by the French tax authorities in respect of individuals indicated to hold accounts at the Geneva branch of HSBC Suisse and understood to be UK residents was supplied to HMRC under the terms of both the Mutual Assistance Directive 77/799/EEC and the Double Taxation Convention in force between France and the United Kingdom at that time:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:31977L0799
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxtreaties/in-force/france.pdf
The Mutual Assistance Directive had been in force since 23 December 1977. The Double Taxation Convention has been in force since 18 December 2009, replacing an earlier convention which had been in force since 1969.
Since their entry into force each of these agreements has been a matter of public record.
It is the responsibility of HMRC to determine the appropriate nature and scope of any response to information received under the provisions of a relevant double taxation convention.
Ministers are not made aware of individual cases due to taxpayer confidentiality. At no point were ministers made aware by HMRC of any suggestion of wrong doing by HSBC itself.
On receipt of the data referred to, a project team was immediately established, led by the then Directors of Risk & Intelligence Service, Criminal Investigations and Specialist Investigations. The then Director—General was the senior responsible officer for the governance of the project.
The data was cleansed, reducing the 6,800 entities referred to in the data to around 3,600 identified individuals with a potential UK connection. Further analysis confirmed that over 3,100 of these individuals could be traced. Following risk assessment, HMRC adopted a range of approaches to ensure that all of those individuals were appropriately challenged over their UK tax compliance. More than £135 million has been recovered to date.
The purpose of the UK Swiss tax cooperation agreement is to secure the UK tax compliance of those UK residents holding accounts in Switzerland, through a combination of tax deductions at source and the release of detailed account information.
The groundbreaking agreement introduced by this Government has secured over £1.2 billion, with more to come. This is money coming in to the UK exchequer from a jurisdiction previously beyond our reach and clearly demonstrates how this Government have supported HMRC’s determined approach in tackling tax evasion.
This deal has secured £1.2bn in tax for the Exchequer that we would not have otherwise received. The declaration does not prevent anyone from providing information to HMRC voluntarily or via a third party, and would not have prevented HMRC from receiving the data from Mr Falciani or any other whistleblower.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when a Government minister was first made aware of files relating to HSBC and tax evasion.
Answered by David Gauke
Information provided to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by the French tax authorities in respect of individuals indicated to hold accounts at the Geneva branch of HSBC Suisse and understood to be UK residents was supplied to HMRC under the terms of both the Mutual Assistance Directive 77/799/EEC and the Double Taxation Convention in force between France and the United Kingdom at that time:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:31977L0799
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxtreaties/in-force/france.pdf
The Mutual Assistance Directive had been in force since 23 December 1977. The Double Taxation Convention has been in force since 18 December 2009, replacing an earlier convention which had been in force since 1969.
Since their entry into force each of these agreements has been a matter of public record.
It is the responsibility of HMRC to determine the appropriate nature and scope of any response to information received under the provisions of a relevant double taxation convention.
Ministers are not made aware of individual cases due to taxpayer confidentiality. At no point were ministers made aware by HMRC of any suggestion of wrong doing by HSBC itself.
On receipt of the data referred to, a project team was immediately established, led by the then Directors of Risk & Intelligence Service, Criminal Investigations and Specialist Investigations. The then Director—General was the senior responsible officer for the governance of the project.
The data was cleansed, reducing the 6,800 entities referred to in the data to around 3,600 identified individuals with a potential UK connection. Further analysis confirmed that over 3,100 of these individuals could be traced. Following risk assessment, HMRC adopted a range of approaches to ensure that all of those individuals were appropriately challenged over their UK tax compliance. More than £135 million has been recovered to date.
The purpose of the UK Swiss tax cooperation agreement is to secure the UK tax compliance of those UK residents holding accounts in Switzerland, through a combination of tax deductions at source and the release of detailed account information.
The groundbreaking agreement introduced by this Government has secured over £1.2 billion, with more to come. This is money coming in to the UK exchequer from a jurisdiction previously beyond our reach and clearly demonstrates how this Government have supported HMRC’s determined approach in tackling tax evasion.
This deal has secured £1.2bn in tax for the Exchequer that we would not have otherwise received. The declaration does not prevent anyone from providing information to HMRC voluntarily or via a third party, and would not have prevented HMRC from receiving the data from Mr Falciani or any other whistleblower.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many convictions there have been as a result of prosecutions brought by HM Revenue and Customs for tax evasion in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is not a prosecuting authority. Where cases handled by HMRC do proceed to the criminal courts the prosecution is carried out by the relevant independent prosecuting authority. This is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England and Wales, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland, and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI).
Individuals convicted as a result of prosecutions arising from HMRC investigations for tax evasion offences since April 2010 were as follows:
2010-11: 280
2011-12: 401
2012-13: 522
2013-14: 682
HMRC is not able to supply a time series of full year convictions resulting from their criminal investigations for years up to 2009–10. Complete, comparable data is only available from 2010–11 onwards.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of penalties collected by HM Revenue and Customs as a result of criminal convictions relating to tax avoidance and evasion was in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Gauke
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has never collected penalties as a result of criminal convictions. Sanctions imposed following conviction are a matter for the courts.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to comments by a senior HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) official to The Times, quoted in an article of 2 November 2012, what discussions Ministers of his Department had with HMRC officials on whether to pursue a selective prosecution policy on tax cases relating to HSBC in Switzerland.
Answered by David Gauke
The information sought was provided by Edward Troup in oral evidence to the Committee of Public Accounts on 28 October 2013, HC666, from Question 328 onwards.
It is a long standing principle that Ministers are not involved in individual cases. HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) approach to prosecution has not changed since it was set out by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2002 – (Official Report, 7 November 2002; Vol. 392, c. 784W.).
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the contribution of Edward Troup in oral evidence to the Committee of Public Accounts on 5 November 2012, HC716, Question 60, what progress has been made on the further dozen pending criminal prosecutions for cases related to HSBC and tax evasion.
Answered by David Gauke
The information sought was provided by Edward Troup in oral evidence to the Committee of Public Accounts on 28 October 2013, HC666, from Question 328 onwards.
It is a long standing principle that Ministers are not involved in individual cases. HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) approach to prosecution has not changed since it was set out by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2002 – (Official Report, 7 November 2002; Vol. 392, c. 784W.).
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any Minister in his Department discussed the issue of HSBC and tax evasion with Lord Green during his time as Minister for Trade and Investment.
Answered by David Gauke
I refer the Hon. Lady to the answer I gave her on 20 February.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, in how many cases related to tax evasion did failure to agree a rate of penalty go on appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal (Tax) or Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) and result in a penalty that was (a) the same as the original amount, (b) a greater amount or (c) a lower amount in the last five years.
Answered by David Gauke
This information could only be collated at a disproportionate cost.