Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jo Swinson and David Gauke

Tuesday 26th June 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

The first point to make is that the numbers of front-line staff dealing with tax avoidance and tax evasion are increasing over the course of this Parliament, in contrast with what happened during the last Parliament. There has been improvement in contact centre performance in the number of calls that get through, but more progress is needed. HMRC is deploying staff more flexibly and conducting small-scale pilots to see whether the private sector can provide additional capacity. HMRC is determined to improve performance.

[Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD)]

My elderly constituent Mr George Robertson is concerned about the amount of money that has been wasted because of a catalogue of errors over two years by HMRC helplines and administration. They wrongly issued cheques for overpayments to Mr Robertson, despite his correctly informing them that, in fact, he owed money; and when the saga was eventually “resolved” in April, they got it wrong again. Will the Minister look into that case and the wider lessons that need to be learned, so that HMRC becomes more accurate and cost-efficient?

[Mr Gauke]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point and I am happy to look into the case. HMRC’s record in dealing with end-of-year reconciliations and improving accuracy is moving in the right direction, but there is more to do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jo Swinson and David Gauke

Tuesday 13th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

I am not quite sure that I necessarily follow what the hon. Gentleman has said, but what I would say is that we announced the introduction of a bank levy in the Budget and we have taken a lot of poorer households out of income tax. That shows the Government’s values.

[Jo Swinson (East Dunbartonshire) (LD)]

8. What assessment he has made of the level of tax avoidance during the period when the rate of capital gains tax was at 18%.

[The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

The Government estimate that prior to the emergency Budget, upwards of £1 billion of income tax revenues was forgone through income being turned into capital gains.

[Jo Swinson]

I thank the Minister for that reply, which shows that when the previous Labour Government reduced capital gains tax, they created an enormous loophole for tax avoidance for the wealthiest in our society. Does he have any further plans to clamp down on tax avoidance, to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share?

[Mr Gauke]

There are measures contained in the Finance Bill, which we are currently debating, that will reduce tax avoidance. We take the issue seriously, but the hon. Lady puts her finger on one of the problems. There were a number of structural difficulties in the tax system as it was left to us, one of which was the wide disparity between income tax rates and capital gains tax rates, and we have been able to do something about that.