Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the number of tax compliance cases (a) opened and (b) closed by HMRC in each of the last five financial years.

Please see links to previously reported data:

2019-20 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1012429/HMRC_quarterly_performance_data_January_to_March_2020_to_2021.xlsx

2020-21and 2021-22 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1101475/HMRC_quarterly_performance_data_table_Q4_2021_to_2022.xlsx

2017-18 Cases started 480,000. Cases closed 475,000.

2018-19 Cases started 375,000. Cases closed 390,000, (numbers rounded to the nearest 5000, in order to be consistent with data provided in earlier years).

Definitions (link to external quarterly publications) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates#reporting-year-2019-to-2020:

• “Cases Started” – From the external quarterly publication: “Compliance checks may span many years and may range from light-touch single risk compliance checks to complex, multiple risks compliance checks. The compliance check will be opened when a risk is opened in a given tax year for a given tax regime”.
• “Cases Closed” – From the external quarterly publication: “Compliance checks may span many years and may range from light-touch single risk compliance checks to complex, multiple risks compliance checks. The compliance check will close once all risks pertaining to the relevant years and tax regime have been closed”.