The Conservatives have reduced the Tax Gap to record lows and I have supported all the measures brought forward since 2010 to make sure that people pay all the tax they owe. I welcome the commitment to go even further to make sure everybody pays the correct tax, raising billions of pounds we can use for our public services and ensure we can continue to cut taxes for hard working people across Castle Point.

Rebecca Harris

By sticking to the plan, inflation has fallen to 2.3%, the economy grew by 0.6% in Q1 2024 and we are cutting taxes for 29 million working people. If we want to continue with our clear plan and bold action to cut taxes, it is vital that people and businesses pay the taxes they owe.

Labour left the tax gap – the difference between taxes owed and taxes actually collected – far too high. Since 2010, we have introduced 200 measures to tackle the tax gap which has made significant progress and we are taking further bold action to raise at least £6 billion a year more by the end of the next Parliament from continuing to crack down on tax avoidance and evasion.

Only the Conservatives have a clear plan and will take the bold action needed to crack down on tax avoidance, strengthen the economy to deliver quality public services and cut taxes, securing a brighter future for families and businesses across the country.

The Plan:

• Raising at least an additional £6 billion a year by the end of the next Parliament, by clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion. We will do this by hiring additional HMRC staff to boost compliance, investing in labour-saving technology such as artificial intelligence so that HMRC staff can spend less time on paperwork and administration and more time enforcing the law, and targeting specific problem issues like umbrella companies and regulation of the tax advice market and registration of agents.

• Since 2010 we have introduced over 200 measures, including 40 since 2021, to tackle tax non-compliance. In total, the Office for Budget Responsibility has scored these measures as raising £95 billion across the forecast – £6.7 billion for each year we’ve have been in Government.

• Returning the tax compliance yield to pre-pandemic levels. Following the enormous pressure put on HMRC during the pandemic to deliver our financial support schemes, we will boost the effectiveness of HMRC’s compliance and enforcement activities to pre-pandemic levels.

• Taking a prudent approach with our costings. According to the head of the National Audit Office, the Government could raise an additional £6 billion a year by cracking down on fraud, error and tax evasion. This continues with our proven record, with the OBR scoring £94.8 billion of revenue raisers through measures at fiscal events since 2010, averaging £6.7 billion for each of the 14 years.

The tax gap was over 50% higher under the last Labour government. Under Labour, the tax gap was 7.5% in 2005-06. The Conservatives delivered a long-term reduction in the tax gap down to 4.8% in 2021-22 and will continue to go further with these measures. If anything, this further crack down is a cautious estimate: getting tax compliance back to pre-Covid levels would raise over £9 billion a year, providing vital funding for our public services and ability to further cut taxes for working families.