Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their ability to assess and tax the funds raised by Romanian beggars through their begging activities.

Under current legislation, begging is not subject to Income Tax unless it can be demonstrated that an individual is being paid to provide a service, trade or profession.

HM Revenue and Customs continuously reviews and monitors risks and threats to the tax system using data and intelligence. This focusses on identifying omitted taxable income sources and does not target specific ethnic groups. HMRC does not collect data on taxpayer ethnicity.