HMRC has asked us to share their response to the recently published Public Accounts Committee report on Tackling the Tax Gap.

“You may have seen that the Public Accounts Committee has published a report which is very critical of the way HMRC estimates the ‘Tax Gap’ – the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. The report also says there has been significant fraud and error in the furlough scheme. You can read my letter to the Chair of the PAC on GOV.UK.

Our schemes were designed to minimise fraud from the outset, while prioritising getting money to those who need it. We have rejected thousands of fraudulent claims and will not tolerate those who seek to defraud taxpayers. We will take action against perpetrators – including criminal prosecution.

HMRC are the only revenue authority in the world that publishes the tax gap in this detail every year. We are also very clear that the tax gap is an estimate and – like all estimates – comes with a degree of uncertainty. We do all this because we believe it’s important to be transparent in our work.

HMRC’s tax gap estimates are official statistics produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, which assures objectivity and integrity. The tax gap methodology has been intensively reviewed and given a clean bill of health by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) stated that: “HMRC is world-leading in measuring tax gaps and is setting the bar for others to follow”.

You can read the report here. I will respond formally to the NAO’s report in due course, but given you are a key stakeholder, I wanted to provide this update to you now.

Further detail on HMRC’s response can be found on GOV.UK. If you have any questions please contact external.affairs@hmrc.gov.uk.”