§ Mr. Hancockasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many income tax fraud investigators there are for the Portsmouth area; and how many people in the Portsmouth area have been successfully prosecuted in each of the last five years, indicating the total amounts involved for the same period.
§ Mr. Norman Lamont[pursuant to his reply, 16 June 1986, c. 468]: Investigation of tax evasion is part of the normal duties of many Inland Revenue staff, and is measured in staff unit equivalents. For the Portsmouth area, it was 22 staff units for the financial year to 31 March 1986. The Inland Revenue seeks civil money penalties for tax offences in all but a very small proportion of cases.
The number of fraud cases in the Portsmouth area which led to criminal prosecutions, and the total amounts involved, in each of the last five years are:
31 March Number Amounts £ 1982 — — 1983 1 27,000 1984 — — 1985 2 47,960 1986 — —