| answer text |
<p>HMRC undertake tax compliance activity on trusts in the same way as they do other
compliance activity and come down hard where tax avoidance or evasion is discovered.
Since 2010 over £160 billion in additional tax revenue has been secured and protected
as a result of actions to tackle tax evasion, avoidance and non-compliance.</p><p>
</p><p>In 2017, HMRC established a register of trusts incurring UK tax consequences,
enabling law enforcement authorities to identify beneficial owners of relevant trusts
and at the Autumn Budget 2017 the Government announced it will publish a consultation
in 2018 on making the taxation of trusts simpler, fairer, and more transparent.</p><p>
</p><p>Benefit claimants are required to inform the DWP of the income and capital
that they possess, or have access to, in order to properly determine their benefit
entitlement and the correct amount of payment.</p><p> </p><p>The benefit regulations
contain provisions that ensure that the claimant is treated as possessing any income
or capital which they have deprived themselves in order to get the benefit or a higher
payment, whether or not it has been placed in a trust.</p><p> </p><p>Final estimates
for 2016-17 indicate that 2.0% of benefit expenditure was overpaid due to fraud and
error. The Government remains committed to tackling both over and underpayments of
benefit. This includes protecting the public purse from those seeking more than their
entitlement. The Government will continue to explore the role data matching can play
as part of this approach.</p><p> </p>
|
|
