Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment HM Revenue and Customs has made of changes in the extent of (a) fuel smuggling and (b) other organised revenue avoidance schemes in Northern Ireland in the last three years.

Estimates of the non UK duty paid market for petrol and diesel fuels in Northern Ireland are published in ‘Measuring Tax Gaps 2012-13'. The non UK duty paid estimate covers both the illicit market and cross border shopping. These estimates cannot be disaggregated into its component parts or by the type of illicit activity e.g. through smuggling or other fraud.

The excise duty losses due to the non-UK duty paid diesel market for 2010-11 were £110m and for 2011-12 were £120m. The excise duty losses due to the petrol non-UK duty paid market for 2010-11 were £30m and for 2011-12 were £30m. Figures for 2012-13 will be published in the autumn.

The information on other organised revenue avoidance schemes in Northern Ireland is not available. The figures cannot be disaggregated by country. UK figures are available from “Measuring Tax Gaps 2012-13”.

The methodologies for producing the estimates are provided in the ‘Methodological Annex for Measuring Tax Gaps 2013'.

Both documents can be accessed via the following page on the HMRC website:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/tax-gaps.htm