Partner Allan Reid questions Governments ability to crack down on avoidance and evasion.

02 Mar 2016

I wonder how the Government is doing collecting that £5Billion by cracking down on avoidance and evasion?

Global multinational don’t seem too worried about their avoidance schemes and my forecast is a saving of about £5 (no zeros, sorry). It may get worse since there is less and less scrutiny of tax returns which HMRC have suggested may soon be filed by telephone.

Then there are all the “cash jobs” – there is a lot of evasion in the “black economy” which only local knowledge and investigation can unearth. The Establishment’s answer? Well, protesters against plans to close HMRC offices are to stage a demonstration outside Parliament today. Kind of brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it? Still, only politicians would have the chutzpah to tell us that they are increasing sales by cutting costs, a bit like buying aircraft carriers without an aircraft.

I could go on…