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Written Question
Revenue and Customs: Conferences
Wednesday 20th March 2024

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide a list of the attendees at the HMRC's stakeholder conference on 16 February 2024.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

We are unable to provide specific details of the individuals who attended as this would be in breach of GDPR rules.


Written Question
Money Laundering: Prosecutions
Monday 18th March 2024

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions for money laundering offences HM Revenue and Customs brought against individuals in each year since 2013; and how many of those prosecutions resulted in a conviction in each of those years.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the right hon. Member for Barking to the answer I gave on 11 March 2024 to Question UIN 16576 .


Written Question
Revenue and Customs: Conferences
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who attended HMRC's stakeholder conference this year.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

We are unable to provide specific details of the individuals who attended as this would be in breach of GDPR rules.


Written Question
Money Laundering: Prosecutions
Monday 11th March 2024

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions for money laundering offences HM Revenue and Customs have brought against individuals in each year since 2013; and how many of those prosecutions resulted in a conviction in each of those years.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC takes a flexible and dynamic resourcing approach to criminally investigating suspected tax crimes and associated money laundering. While HMRC is not a prosecuting authority, we prepare the cases to the highest evidential standard and pass the case to the relevant independent prosecuting authority to decide if the case satisfies the two-stage test for prosecution.

The following is aggregate data for HMRC’s investigations, since 2013 that resulted in a prosecution and conviction for either money laundering offences as set out in Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, or prosecutable breaches of supervisory requirement in various versions of the Money Laundering Regulations.

Year

No. of positive charging decisions[2]

No. of convictions[3]

2012-13

23

10

2013-14

33

33

2014-15

30

17

2015-16

65

32

2016-17

29

35

2017-18

80

18

2018-19

69

32

2019-20

25

31

2020-21

22

19

2021-22

19

24

2022-23

34

32

To note, criminal investigations can take considerable time to progress and can conclude in a year other than the one in which they are opened. As such there is no direct correlation between yearly figures presented in the table.

[2]cases where the prosecuting authority has agreed to a money laundering or money laundering regulations charge against defendants.

[3] successfully concluded criminal investigations.


Written Question
Tax Avoidance: Fixed Penalties
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many penalties have been issued by HMRC against UK-based entities that facilitate tax avoidance schemes involving non-resident promoters since the coming into force of schedule 13 of the Finance Act 2022; and what the total value of those penalties is.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

As a result of the action the Government has taken to clamp down on marketed tax avoidance, the estimated tax gap from marketed avoidance sold primarily to individuals has fallen from an estimated £1.5 billion in 2005-06 to £0.5 billion in 2021-22.

The primary purpose of the penalty is to deter UK based entities from acting on behalf of offshore promoters and so make it more difficult for these promoters to sell their schemes in the UK; however, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a wide-ranging approach to tackling promoters of tax avoidance.

For example, as of 31 December 2023, HMRC has published the names of 59 promoters, 23 directors and details of 64 tax avoidance schemes. Publishing this information supports taxpayers in identifying tax avoidance schemes so they can steer clear of or exit them.

Furthermore, Finance Act 2024 has introduced tougher consequences for promoters of tax avoidance. This includes a new criminal offence to strengthen the deterrent to promoting tax avoidance, making it clear promoters must stop promoting these schemes, and a power enabling HMRC to act more quickly to disqualify directors of companies involved in tax avoidance.


Written Question
Tax Avoidance: Convictions
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have been convicted of offences relating to arrangements which have been marketed as tax avoidance since the formation of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service on 1 April 2016.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Promotion or operation of mass marketed tax avoidance schemes is not in, or of itself, a criminal offence. However, there are a range of offences which might be committed by those who promote tax avoidance schemes or advise on their use.

Since the formation of HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service on 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance. These have resulted in over 100 years of custodial sentences and 9 years of suspended sentences being ordered, the majority of which relate to promoters.

Prosecutions are only one type of intervention available to HMRC where they identify concerns.


Written Question
Limited Liability
Tuesday 30th January 2024

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of active limited partnerships there were in each year since 2017.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC does not hold information on the number of active Limited Partnerships.


Written Question
Money laundering and terrorism
Thursday 25th January 2024

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's planned timescale is for publishing the outcome of its consultation entitled Reforming anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Following the Treasury’s consultation on reforming the UK’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing supervisory regime which closed September 2023, the Government aims to respond in the coming months. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the consultation. The evidence we received reinforced the importance of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision in reducing economic crime.


Written Question
Taxation: International Cooperation
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly Second Committee on establishing a United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation adopted on 22 November 2023, whether the Government plans to support this resolution.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK strongly supports developing countries' efforts to scale-up domestic resource mobilisation to finance sustainable development.

The UK engaged constructively in the negotiations on the UN tax resolution. However, the UK, alongside many other countries, is concerned that proceeding with a UN convention on international tax at this time would not be the most effective way to achieve these goals. An Explanation of Vote was published on GOV.UK on 22nd November. [LINK]


Written Question
Sanctions: Russia
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many violations there have been of sanctions placed on Russia; and what the value is of fines issued for those violations.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government has imposed a wide range of sanctions measures against Russia, including finance, trade and transport. The UK has implemented sanctions against Russia since 2014, following the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol from Ukraine, and the illegal invasion in 2022.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is responsible for the civil enforcement of financial sanctions breaches, including the imposition of civil monetary penalties. OFSI does not hold full information on the number of breaches across all sanctions measures against Russia.

Since 2014, the UK has imposed fines totalling more than £20 million on firms for breaching financial sanctions related to Russia. OFSI has a range of enforcement tools it can use, in addition to civil monetary penalties, depending on the severity of the breach. These include issuing a private warning letter, publishing details of the breach but not issuing a penalty or making a referral to regulators.