Written questions, answers and statements

Tax Evasion

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Question for HM Treasury

UIN 201005, tabled on 17 June 2014

Question

Mr Dominic Raab
Conservative
Esher and Walton
Commons

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions have been brought for tax offences in each year since 2008-09.

Answer

Mr David Gauke
Conservative
South West Hertfordshire
Commons

Answered on

23 June 2014

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is not a prosecuting authority. Where cases do proceed to the criminal courts the prosecution is carried out by the relevant independent prosecuting authority. This is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England and Wales, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland, and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI).

Please note that figures for tax evasion exclude those cases prosecuted for money laundering, other prohibitions and restrictions and other non-fiscal offences.

We can provide the following information in respect of totals of tax evasion prosecutions

Year

Total number of persons prosecuted for tax evasion

2010-11

372

2011-12

501

2012-13

739

2013-14

880

HMRC is not able to supply a time series of full year prosecution decisions and convictions resulting from their criminal investigations for years up to 2009–10. Complete, comparable data is only available from 2010–11 onwards.

Answered by

Treasury
Named day
Named day questions only occur in the House of Commons. The MP tabling the question specifies the date on which they should receive an answer. MPs may not table more than five named day questions on a single day.