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222377

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Evasion
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many individuals and companies have been prosecuted for tax evasion in each of the last five financial years.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow North East
tabling member printed	Mr William Bain
uin	224576
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2015 answer text <p>HM Revenue &amp; 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). Prosecutions for criminal offences are only instigated against individuals, not companies.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This Government has invested over £917million over this Parliament which has seen the volume of mass market evasion prosecutions implemented as a result of HMRC Criminal Investigations increase fivefold.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The table below shows all prosecutions arising from HMRC criminal investigations including those for money laundering, other prohibitions and restrictions and other non-fiscal offences.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td>Year</td><td>Total number of persons prosecuted as a result of HMRC Criminal Investigations</td></tr><tr><td>2010-11</td><td>420</td></tr><tr><td>2011-12</td><td>545</td></tr><tr><td>2012-13</td><td>770</td></tr><tr><td>2013-14</td><td>915</td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>The following table excludes cases prosecuted for money laundering, other prohibitions and restrictions and other non-fiscal offences as included in the table above and shows prosecutions for tax evasion offences only.</p><p> </p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td>Year</td><td>Total number of persons prosecuted for tax evasion as result of HMRC Criminal Investigations</td></tr><tr><td>2010-11</td><td>372</td></tr><tr><td>2011-12</td><td>501</td></tr><tr><td>2012-13</td><td>739</td></tr><tr><td>2013-14</td><td>880</td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 23/03/2015 17:33:30 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	1610 label Biography information for Mr William Bain

222391

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Procurement
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total value of contracts his Department has with private sector providers was in each of the last five years for which records are available.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Hall Green
tabling member printed	Mr Roger Godsiff
uin	224668
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2015 answer text <p>Since January 2011, central Government Departments have been required to publish on Contracts Finder information on the tenders issued and contracts they award with a value over £10,000</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="http://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/contracts-finder</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, Departments including HM Treasury routinely publish details of transactions over £25,000.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 26/02/2015 17:02:33 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	304 label Biography information for Mr Roger Godsiff

222394

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Avoidance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2015 to Question 222787, what constitutes appropriate training for HM Revenue and Customs' staff dealing with accelerated payment notices; and what qualifications and training are required of the specialised team responsible for such notices.
tabling member constituency	Cities of London and Westminster
tabling member printed	Mark Field
uin	224605
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2015 answer text <p>HMRC’s staff dealing with Accelerated Payment Notices are trained to ensure that they have a clear understanding of the relevant legislation and the operational processes to be followed under the Accelerated Payments regime. Where necessary, for example if they are dealing with Accelerated Payment Notices to be issued in a specialist area of the tax code such as Stamp Duty Loan Trusts, staff also receive bespoke technical training in that area.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 26/02/2015 16:49:02 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	1405 label Biography information for Mark Field

222395

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	National Savings Bonds: Pensioners
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for 65+ Guaranteed Growth Bonds his Department estimated it would receive; how many applications for such bonds have been received; what estimate he made of how much time it would take to process each application for such bonds; and how long it is taking to process each such application.
tabling member constituency	Finchley and Golders Green
tabling member printed	Mike Freer
uin	224606
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2015 answer text <p>HM Treasury estimated that £10bn of the 65+ bond would help over a million pensioners.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The original scheme was extended on Sunday 8 February the Chancellor announced the Government will extend the availability of the Bonds. Following the unprecedented demand - which has made this the biggest sale of any retail financial product in Britain's modern history - the Bonds will now be on sale until 15 May 2015.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Applications are received through the internet, by phone and by post, and have different processing times. Transactions undertaken over the internet and by phone receive a debit card receipt confirming that the funds have been taken within a few hours, and they will receive an email confirmation within two days. It takes between 7 and 10 days to process a postal application, this timeframe includes 2 days for the postal delivery service.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Northamptonshire answering member printed Andrea Leadsom question first answered 09/03/2015 16:59:36 answering member 4117 label Biography information for Andrea Leadsom
tabling member	4004 label Biography information for Mike Freer

222397

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Offshore Industry: Taxation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2015 to Question 221932, whether it is his policy that licensed drilling contractors operating in the UK Continental Shelf are eligible for the investment allowance.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	224574
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/02/2015 answer text <p>The proposed investment allowance will enable operators subject to the North Sea Supplementary Charge to tax to reduce the proportion of their profits subject to that charge. Drilling contractors operating in the North Sea do not generally fall within the North Sea ringfence tax regime and hence are already exempt from the Supplementary Charge.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Witham answering member printed Priti Patel question first answered 26/02/2015 16:47:52 answering member 4066 label Biography information for Priti Patel
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

222398

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Inheritance Tax
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2015 to Question 223222, how many staff made up the specialist inheritance tax compliance teams in each of the last five years for which records are available.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Pamela Nash
uin	224585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2015 answer text <p>The number of full time equivalent staff in the specialist inheritance tax compliance teams for the last four years are:<br><br>2014/15 148<br>2013/14 158<br>2012/13 156<br>2011/12 153<br><br>Prior to 2011/12 the teams were organised and structured in a different way and comparable figures are not available. <br><br>HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has improved the process it used to ensure compliance with inheritance tax law. This has increased the team's efficiency which is reflected in the number of staff deployed.</p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 03/03/2015 15:30:03 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	3909 label Biography information for Pamela Nash

222399

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Revenue and Customs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2015 to Question 223222, how many staff were employed at HM Revenue and Customs offices in (a) Belfast, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Nottingham in each of the last five years for which records are available.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Pamela Nash
uin	224586
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2015 answer text <p>The number of staff, by headcount and full time equivalent (FTE) posts, employed at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) offices in Belfast, Edinburgh and Nottingham in each of the last five years is shown in the attached table.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 24/03/2015 17:49:24 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke attachment 1 file name The number of staff.docx title Table of staff numbers
tabling member	3909 label Biography information for Pamela Nash

222400

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Avoidance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2015 to Question 223223, how many of the notifications received by HM Revenue and Customs resulted in (a) court proceedings and (b) a conviction in each of the last five years for which records are available.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Pamela Nash
uin	224587
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2015 answer text <p>The Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes regime to which Question 223223 referred requires promoters of avoidance schemes to notify HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of schemes which meet certain criteria. Users of a notified tax avoidance scheme are required to report this use to HMRC, for appropriate challenge.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Where a dispute on a tax avoidance scheme cannot be settled by agreement, it is open to the user to take the dispute to the Tax Tribunal for a decision. HMRC win around 80% of the avoidance cases users choose to take to court, and many more users decide to settle before they reach litigation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Tax avoidance schemes are dealt with by way of Tax Tribunal hearing, if necessary moving to the higher Courts where the taxpayer or HMRC are given leave to appeal a decision of the Tribunal.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 17/03/2015 17:07:43 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	3909 label Biography information for Pamela Nash

222401

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Evasion
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have been (a) under investigation and (b) taken to trial for tax evasion in (i) the UK, (ii) Scotland, (iii) Wales, (iv) Northern Ireland and (v) England in each year since April 2010.
tabling member constituency	Airdrie and Shotts
tabling member printed	Pamela Nash
uin	224588
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2015 answer text <p>HM Revenue &amp; Customs (HMRC) employs a variety of interventions to tackle tax evasion using both civil and criminal procedures. Investigations that commence as a civil intervention can become criminal and criminal can become civil if the circumstances dictate.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC’s Criminal Investigation Directorate is responsible for criminal investigations into suspected tax evasion. They do not split their reporting data by geographical region but record and report all data as a national statistic. Their methodology for recording data relating to numbers of criminal investigations for the year 2010-11 differs from that used for 2011-12 and onwards.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In 2010-11 the total number of criminal investigations relating to suspected tax evasion was 210. Each investigation included varying numbers of individuals.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>From 2011-12 HMRC has recorded the number of individuals under criminal investigation. The number of those subject to criminal investigation for suspected tax evasion offences in each year was as follows:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>2011-12 1332</p><p> </p><p>2012-13 3430</p><p> </p><p>2013-14 3905</p><p> </p><p>2014-15 to February 2015 4723</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>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).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The number of individuals prosecuted for tax evasion offences in each complete year since April 2010 was:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>2010-11 372</p><p> </p><p>2011-12 501</p><p> </p><p>2012-13 739</p><p> </p><p>2013-14 880</p><p> </p><p>2014-15 to February 2015 1009</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC is not able to supply a time series of full year prosecutions resulting from their criminal investigations for years up to 2009–10. Complete, comparable data is only available from 2010–11 onwards.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>There is no direct correlation between the numbers investigated and numbers prosecuted in any one particular year as not all investigations lead to prosecution and those that do are not necessarily prosecuted in the year that the investigation commenced.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As part of the additional £917M investment HMRC received in the 2010 spending review the number of prosecutions instigated as result of Mass Market Evasion Criminal Investigations (volume crime) has increased fivefold.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>HMRC also investigates cases that do not involve tax evasion. These figures exclude cases prosecuted for money laundering, other prohibitions and restrictions and other non-fiscal offences.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke grouped question UIN 225634 question first answered 25/03/2015 11:40:23 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	3909 label Biography information for Pamela Nash

222402

registered interest
date	20/02/2015
answering body	HM Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Tax Avoidance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the legal costs and fines recovered from (a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) KPMG, (c) Ernst & Young and (d) Deloitte after tax courts and tribunals have rejected tax avoidance schemes designed by those firms in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Great Grimsby
tabling member printed	Austin Mitchell
uin	224572
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2015 answer text <p>HM Revenue &amp; Customs (HMRC) has a very successful record of winning cases against avoidance schemes that taxpayers choose to litigate. They are successful in around 80% of these cases, and many taxpayers, of course, settle before reaching litigation. When successful, HMRC will request costs in appropriate cases. Under the normal court rules relating to costs, these are recovered from the litigant.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has introduced the High Risk Promoters (Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes) legislation in Finance Act 2014 to tackle the small and persistent minority of promoters of tax avoidance schemes who display behaviours that are detrimental to the integrity of the tax system. The legislation enhances HMRC's ability to tackle promoters who commonly design, market and implement products which overwhelmingly do not work. It focuses on promoters who rely on non-cooperation with HMRC and may rely on concealment and mis-description of elements of their schemes to succeed. Such promoters must change their behaviour voluntarily or, if they do not do so, be subject to information powers which affect them, their intermediaries and their clients – meaning that promoters can be named and fined up to £1 million.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 03/03/2015 15:26:38 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
tabling member	372 label Biography information for Austin Mitchell