§ Norman BakerTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many(a) audits and (b) investigations have been conducted by the Inland Revenue of taxpayers with a gross annual income of (a) £15,000 or less, (b) £15,001 to £25,000, (c) £25,001 to £50,000, (d) £50,001 to £100,000, (e) £100,001 to £200,000, (f) £200,001 to £500,000, (g) £500,001 to £1,000,000 and (h) more than £1,000,000, for the most recent available accounting period. [49297]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 15 April 2002]: The Inland Revenue does not have figures analysed in this way. The Board of Inland Revenue publishes the results of its work tackling non-compliance in its annual report, which is available in the Library. The latest figures are in Appendix 2 and cover the year to 31 March 2001.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated annual total cost of non-compliance with Inland Revenue laws and rules in each of the last five years. [49294]
§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 15 April 2002]: There is no reliable measure of the total income tax and national insurance contributions lost to evasion. In his report, published in March 2000, Lord Grabiner QC commented on the scale of the hidden economy and said:
By its nature, the size of the informal economy is hard to measure. Most estimates are based on analysing high-level economic aggregates, such as labour market statistics or income and expenditure surveys, and calculate the result as a percentage of GDP. However there is research which suggests that these estimates tend to be exaggerated.It would be impractical to arrive at a precise and meaningful figure as to the scale of the problem without a considerable investment of time and resources.