Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to tackle tax avoidance and tax evasion.

The Government is relentless in its crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion, taking a range of action to prevent such behaviour at the outset, and to detect and counter it effectively where it persists.

Since April 2010, the Government has invested more than £1 billion in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to strengthen their powers in tackling avoidance and evasion and have made more than 40 changes to tax law, closing down loopholes and introducing major reforms to the UK tax system.

During the last Parliament, as a result of actions to tackle evasion, avoidance and non-compliance, HMRC are expected to have secured £100 billion in additional compliance revenue.

The Government has committed to raising at least £5 billion from measures to tackle evasion, avoidance and aggressive planning within the tax system. We will announce further details at the Budget.