ARC holds House of Commons meeting on tackling the tax gap

Speakers at Tackling the Tax Gap: Defeating the Deficit (left to right): Lord Oakeshott; David Hanson MP; Caroline Lucas MP; ARC President Graham Black; Treasury Select Committee member Mark Garnier MP; and Chas Roy-Choudhury, ACCA head of taxation.

Around 60 people attended today's Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC) meeting at the House of Commons on 'Tackling the Tax Gap: Defeating the Deficit'. With uncollected taxes estimated to be between £40 and £50 billion per year, ARC's Defeat the Deficit campaign proposes greater emphasis on and investment in closing the tax gap, as an alternative to public sector cuts or tax increases.

The meeting was chaired by Caroline Lucas MP and speakers included Lord Oakeshott; Treasury Select Committee member Mark Garnier MP; ACCA head of taxation Chas Roy-Choudhury; David Hanson MP; and ARC President Graham Black.

Describing ARC's proposals, Black said: "If a further £260 million is invested over the next four years we can reduce the gap by just under £6 billion. This solution appeals to the head and the heart".

Roy-Choudhury said: "HMRC staff need to be given greater security and certainty… we need to spend to save."

Lucas confirmed that on 17 March she is presenting to the House of Commons a tax and financial transparency bill, which would "require banks, corporations and trusts to provide information on their status, income arising and tax payments made in each jurisdiction".

Please click on the following link for more on the ARC Defeat the Deficit campaign.