Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full time equivalent HMRC staff have worked on tackling abuse of R&D tax reliefs in each of the last five years.

HMRC undertakes a wide range of compliance activity in relation to Research and Development (R&D) claims and this work is undertaken across a number of teams, including specialist R&D teams, the Fraud Investigation Service, and teams that also deal with other aspects of Corporation Tax.

The specialist teams who deal with non-compliance in relation to a range of incentives and reliefs, including R&D, Creatives Industries, Venture Capital, Tonnage Tax, and Patent Box, currently have 244.9 full time equivalent team members. There are additional teams who, for example, work on R&D as part of a wider role, such as those within Large Business and Fraud Investigation Service, who are not included in this figure.

Information regarding the number of HMRC staff involved specifically in tackling abuse is not available.