In the Treasury minutes published on 16 May 2022, the government has responded to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report from session 2021/2022 on HMRC’s management of tax debt.
In response to the PAC Committee’s 48th report from session 2021/22, the government has shared that it agrees with all the recommendations made by the committee. In accordance with these recommendations the government will:
within the next six months, develop and share with the committee, a plan to manage the increased levels of debt back down to pre-pandemic levels within a specific timeframe;
set out how much more tax debt it can bring in with increased levels of capacity using private sector and public sector options and write to the committee alongside its Treasury minute response with its findings and the actions it is taking to maximise value for money;
provide the committee with a summary of substantive work undertaken to estimate the number of rogue companies at risk of defaulting and the value of the tax at risk and ensure resources are in place to prevent such fraudulent activity;
bring the full force of the law to bear on those who defraud the Exchequer, and report publicly and regularly to Parliament on the numbers prosecuted;
write to the committee within six months, to provide an update on the estimation of spending, the scope of its work and the results of its pilot test using private sector data and plans for further use;
identify and obtain the data sources which are most relevant to understand the ongoing impact of the pandemic on businesses; and
ensure regular and adequate training is in place for staff and carry out research to independently estimate how many vulnerable people are affected by tax debt and how effectively it is identifying those customers and write to the committee with its findings.
In the Treasury minutes published on 16 May 2022, the government has responded to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report from session 2021/2022 on HMRC’s management of tax debt.
In response to the PAC Committee’s 48th report from session 2021/22, the government has shared that it agrees with all the recommendations made by the committee. In accordance with these recommendations the government will:
within the next six months, develop and share with the committee, a plan to manage the increased levels of debt back down to pre-pandemic levels within a specific timeframe;
set out how much more tax debt it can bring in with increased levels of capacity using private sector and public sector options and write to the committee alongside its Treasury minute response with its findings and the actions it is taking to maximise value for money;
provide the committee with a summary of substantive work undertaken to estimate the number of rogue companies at risk of defaulting and the value of the tax at risk and ensure resources are in place to prevent such fraudulent activity;
bring the full force of the law to bear on those who defraud the Exchequer, and report publicly and regularly to Parliament on the numbers prosecuted;
write to the committee within six months, to provide an update on the estimation of spending, the scope of its work and the results of its pilot test using private sector data and plans for further use;
identify and obtain the data sources which are most relevant to understand the ongoing impact of the pandemic on businesses; and
ensure regular and adequate training is in place for staff and carry out research to independently estimate how many vulnerable people are affected by tax debt and how effectively it is identifying those customers and write to the committee with its findings.
