Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HMRC publication entitled Measuring tax gaps 2026 edition: tax gap estimates for 2024 to 2025, what HMRC’s targets are to reduce the tax gap for each year of this Parliament.

The annual tax gap is a statistical estimate published with a time lag of over a year and subject to significant revision in subsequent updates. Whilst HMRC’s compliance activity helps to reduce the tax gap, it is influenced by a range of other factors outside HMRC's direct control, including economic conditions and changes in tax policy.

Instead, HMRC sets an annual compliance yield target to reflect the department’s impact on the tax gap. The government’s investment in HMRC since Autumn Budget 2024 is expected to reduce the tax gap and raise additional tax revenue of £10 billion per year by 2029-30.