§ Mr. Knoxasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many prosecutions there were in each of the past five years for tax evasion; and how many of them resulted in conviction.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 6th July 1978; Vol. 953, c. 300], gave the following information:
Figures for persons convicted and acquitted as a result of prosecutions undertaken by the Inland Revenue for the last ten years are shown in table 8 of the 120th report of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Inland Revenue (Cmnd. 7092). The latest available information for Customs and Excise is published in the 68th annual report of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise (Cmnd. 7050). Both of these documents are available in the Library. The number of prosecutions for evasion of vehicle excise duty is as followse:
1973 156,162 1974 142,905 1975 156,286 1976 165,521 1977 126,362 Figures for convictions are not available.