Tax 'wastage' this year to top £12bn - report

Nicola Brittain
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British taxpayers have wasted £88.6bn in tax relief over the last decade, and will waste a further £12.6bn in 2012 alone, a new report suggests.

The Unbiased 2012 Tax Action Report also suggests each British taxpayer will not claim an average of £421 in tax relief in 2012. The biggest area of waste this year will be unclaimed tax credits, at an estimated £7.3bn. Other big areas of waste are tax relief on pension contributions at £2.4bn, tax relief on charity donations at £2.4bn and making use of ISAs at £403m. Some 85% of the British population haven't done anything in the past 12 months to reduce the amount of tax they pay. Of the 15% of those who have take steps to reduce the tax they pay, two in five (40%) have changed t...

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