§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax revenues lost as a result of transfer pricing practices by multinational companies in the last five tax years. [27345]
§ Mr. JackThe Inland Revenue devotes significant resources to ensuring that the transfer pricing legislation is complied with, and any evidence of non-compliance is carefully investigated. Over the past five tax years, the estimated total tax from inquiries made by the specialist section at the Inland Revenue which deals with the largest cases with international aspects, including transfer pricing, was £793 million. This does not include additional tax arising from work in the Inland Revenue's local offices or at the oil taxation office, separate records of which are not kept but which would significantly increase the total. It is not possible to estimate the amount of tax revenue lost through any failures to follow the transfer pricing legislation of which the Inland Revenue has not become aware. The United Kingdom regards transfer pricing as a very significant aspect of international taxation and the Inland Revenue is consistently on the alert for failures to comply with the legislation.