Extra £77m to rein in evasion, but experts say the horse has already bolted

13 January 2013

The Government was warned last night that its £77 million crack down on tax avoidance and illegal tax evasion was not enough to close its widening £32 billion tax gap.

Tax experts welcomed George Osborne’s announcement that Revenue & Customs would get additional funds to target tax-dodging by wealthy individuals and multinational companies. But they questioned whether the money was sufficient to defeat the problem and called for Britain to lead international efforts to shut down tax avoidance among multinational companies.