Baroness Berger
Main Page: Baroness Berger (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Baroness Berger's debates with the HM Treasury
(11 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Gauke
We are taking measures to address this: the hon. Gentleman will be aware of the action that we took in the last Budget to close the loophole relating to offshore companies. We of course want a tax system that ensures that the tax is consistent with the economic reality, and that is what we intend to have.
Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)
Do the Government believe that cutting £2 billion from HMRC’s budget will help or hinder its ability properly to address tax evasion and tax avoidance in this country?
Mr Gauke
This is the Government who have found £1 billion to support HMRC in dealing with tax evasion and tax avoidance. This is the Government who have provided resources in that area. Yes, we can find efficiency savings in HMRC—just as the previous Government did, to be fair—but we are putting more into those parts of HMRC that get the money in. We are making dramatic progress, with HMRC’s yield hitting record levels.