Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of HMRC's (a) powers and (b) resources to investigate tax-avoidance enablers.

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee recently made recommendations on HMRC’s powers and resourcing (House of Lords Paper 242 - The Powers of HMRC: Treating Taxpayers Fairly). The Government considered these points and responded on 22 January 2019. This is available from:

https://www.parliament.uk/documents/lords-committees/economic-affairs/Govt%20HMRC%20Powers%20report%2022%20Jan%202019%20.pdf

As detailed in the response, the Government keeps the tax system under review and notes the Committee's recommendation to update the powers review principles for the digital age. HMRC will consider options for reviewing and updating the tax administration framework, to ensure that it is effective in underpinning modern tax administration. HMRC already has dedicated teams resourced to tackle those who promote or enable tax avoidance.