§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what(a) the average amount of tax evaded and (b) the total amount of tax evaded was in cases pursued by the Inland Revenue's special compliance office which have resulted in convictions, in each year since 1997. [102004]
§ Dawn PrimaroloThe total amount of tax that was the subject of criminal offences successfully prosecuted by the Inland Revenue since 1997 is:
£ 2001–02 6,201,945 2000–01 6,599,539 1999–2000 16,108,650 1998–99 9,575,906 1997–98 16,721,002 Values in particular cases range from less than £1,000 to over £5 million. These variations can cause significant fluctuations from year to year. Given this range of values we believe that average figures are unrepresentative.