HM Revenue & Customs is to spend £1bn on enforcement and compliance this year to cut tax avoidance and evasion by £2.4 billion, reports The Times.
Less than a week after the Chancellor proposed a rise in income tax to 50% for the highest earners, the Revenue said that it would spend a quarter of its £4bn budget on catching tax-dodgers. Lesley Strathie, who took over as the HMRC's chief executive and permanent secretary five months ago, said that the organisation would relentlessly pursue those who bent or broke the rules. The clampdown comes after a change of tack by the Revenue's prosecutors last year. In its "litigation and settlement review" the Revenue promised to take more people to court to recover tax instead of cutting dea...
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