Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Tax Evasion

Tuesday 8 April 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Paul Waugh questioned the Minister about the tax gap and welcomed the Treasury's efforts to combat tax avoidance.
  • The Minister responded that 7.5 billion in additional revenue from closing the tax gap will fund public services.
  • Ben Lake inquired about government measures to address overseas companies evading VAT and online sales taxes through fraudulent UK registration.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Paul Waugh Labour (Co-op) Rochdale
Taxation
Context

The UK tax gap grew by a shocking £5 billion in 2023, during the previous Conservative government. Former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi was dismissed for failing to disclose an investigation into his own tax affairs.

Question

I am concerned about the increase in the tax gap and the dismissal of the former Chancellor due to a tax inquiry. I welcome the Treasury's efforts to combat tax avoidance. Will my hon. Friend agree that Labour's prudent approach will demonstrate its commitment by using these recovered taxes to fund our child poverty strategy this summer?

Answer from James Murray (Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury)

I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks. He is right to say that the £7.5 billion of additional revenue from closing the tax gap is a huge boost to the public finances, which enables us responsibly to fund public services and deliver key priorities such as free breakfast clubs at all primary schools in England. The first 750 will begin this month via our early adopters scheme, worth £450 to parents and carers.

Answered
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Q2 Ben Lake PC Ceredigion Preseli
Taxation
Context

Overseas companies are evading VAT and online sales taxes by falsely registering UK addresses, raising concerns about the tax gap.

Question

What steps is the Government taking to address the issue of overseas companies evading VAT and online sales taxes through fraudulent UK registration?

Answer from James Murray (Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury)

At the spring statement, my hon. Friend will have seen the Government set out progress on measures in the autumn Budget to tackle a range of sources of tax avoidance and the tax gap. This includes prosecuting more fraudsters, introducing a new HMRC reward scheme for informants, tackling phoenixism, and addressing the offshore non-compliance tax gap.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific concern about overseas companies evading VAT and online sales taxes through fraudulent UK registration was not directly addressed.

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