The UK’s general election has been set for July 4, with Labour predicted to win by a landslide. Labour have promised to crack down on tax evasion.
The tax gap in Britain, i.e., the gap between tax owed and tax paid, stands today at £36bn. Labour believes that the current government has no plan to bring it down and that the deterrent effect of prosecutions and pilates is too weak, with falling numbers of criminal investigations for tax evasion. Also, Labour says that the current government’s plans to digitise the tax system for the modern age are floundering.
The current government only has plans to recover £1bn a year in outstanding tax debt, even though the head of the National Audit Office says that there is £6bn annually that could be recovered if there were a concerted effort on tax compliance.