Tax evasion spirals to over £80bn a year

Tax evasion spirals to more than £80 billion a year

From a PCS press release:

The cost of tax evasion to the economy spiralled to more than £80 billion last year, according to new figures for the Public and Commercial Services union.

A report by tax expert Richard Murphy, being launched on Tuesday 23 September at the Labour party conference, reveals the overall amount of tax owed, evaded or avoided has barely reduced since 2008, despite government pledges to be clamping down.

While tax debt and avoidance have fallen, partly due to the effects of the recession, a more comprehensive analysis of tax evasion using new data shows it increased to £82 billion last year. If unchecked, evasion could rise to £100 billion by 2018/19, Murphy concludes.

His report calls for a range of measures, including a reversal of the job cuts in HM Revenue and Customs that have meant a 43% reduction in the workforce in little more than a decade.

The launch comes on the same day as HMRC’s “thanksgiving service” in Westminster Abbey, which the union believes is ill-judged.