Revenue and Customs: Staff

(asked on 16th October 2017) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2017 to Question 6005, what plans HM Revenue and Customs has to conduct compliance work nationally from a reduced number of tax offices.


Answered by
Mel Stride Portrait
Mel Stride
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
This question was answered on 19th October 2017

HMRC has always taken a risk-based approach to its compliance interventions, allowing it to focus its resources on the highest tax risks which it tackles through a wide range of targeted compliance interventions.

This national risk-based model and compliance approach has enabled HMRC to secure more than £160 billion in compliance yield since 2010. This amount increased year-on-year as the model has been further refined, reaching a record £28.9 billion in 2016-17.

HMRC’s world-leading data and analytical function gives it an informed view of tax risks across the whole of the UK; including geographically remote areas. All of the available evidence shows that the highest compliance risks are in, or close to, urban centres, and that 95 per cent of the highest risks are within 90 minutes’ drive of one of the planned Regional Centres or Specialist Sites.

Although face-to-face compliance work will continue to have an important role, HMRC will only use it where it is the most efficient way to progress an intervention or regulatory requirement. As its use of data and customer insight continues to grow, more of this work will be done remotely, supported by high-profile targeted taskforce interventions that will enable it to address compliance risks in more remote locations.

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