Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions have been brought for tax offences in each year since 2008-09.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is not a prosecuting authority. Where cases do proceed to the criminal courts the prosecution is carried out by the relevant independent prosecuting authority. This is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in England and Wales, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland, and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland (PPSNI).

Please note that figures for tax evasion exclude those cases prosecuted for money laundering, other prohibitions and restrictions and other non-fiscal offences.

We can provide the following information in respect of totals of tax evasion prosecutions

HMRC is not able to supply a time series of full year prosecution decisions and convictions resulting from their criminal investigations for years up to 2009–10. Complete, comparable data is only available from 2010–11 onwards.