Tax and Duties

On this section of the website, you will find the work we do relating to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).  HMRC has two strategic objectives:

• Improve the extent to which individuals and businesses pay the tax due and receive the credits and payments to which they are entitled.
• Improve customers’ experiences of HMRC and improve the UK business environment.

Almost every UK individual and business is a direct customer of HMRC; it has over 30 million individual and 4 million business customers.

HMRC administers the majority of the UK’s taxes, national insurance contributions, European Union customs requirements, tax credits, Child Benefit payments and the Child Trust Fund. It enforces the national minimum wage and administers the recovery of student loans.

In 2007-08, it collected £457 billion in tax revenue and paid £30.4 billion in tax credits, child benefits and Child Trust Fund endowments.  In 2007-08, the Department cost £4.3 billion to run.  It employs about 86,000 staff and uses over 250 major information technology systems.

Doing all this well is important as the revenues HMRC collects fund the Government’s commitment to areas such as health, transport and education.

Each year, we audit HMRC’s £4.3 billion of expenditure, and through the Trust Statement the £457 billion of revenues and £30.4 billion of expenditures related to the taxes and duties managed by HMRC.

Recent reports such as Management of Tax Debt, The Control and Facilitation of Imports, Tackling the hidden economy, Accuracy in processing Income Tax, Management of large business Corporation Tax and Helping individuals understand and complete their Tax Forms show the breadth of our VFM work.

Section 2 audits determine whether the regulations and procedures used by HMRC have been framed to secure an effective check on the assessment, collection and proper allocation of revenue. These are contained within the HM Revenue & Customs Accounts, and in the 2007-08 Report, covered matters including: Tax Credits, the collection of income tax through PAYE and self-assessment, VAT and Excise Duties and the Alcohol Strategy.

Features

Comparing how some tax authorities tackle the hidden economy

The hidden economy affects everyone. Honest businesses suffer from unfair competition from those in the hidden economy. People working in the hidden economy do not benefit from the protection of employment legislation. Customers of people working in the hidden economy do not get guarantees for work carried out or have legal recourse for poor quality work.

Read full article: Comparing how some tax authorities tackle the hidden economy