the Public Accounts Committee which highlights a “woefully inadequate” number of prosecutions for offshore tax avoidance, said:

“Those three million working families facing a cut of £1,300 a year on average in their tax credits will be very angry with this news.

"But it is no wonder that HMRC is failing to answer a third of phone calls from people wanting to pay their taxes when staffing levels have been reduced from 70,000 to a planned 50,000 by the end of this Parliament. And meanwhile corporate tax-avoiders are getting away with paying a fraction of what they owe.

“With local tax offices closing and further staffing cuts to be announced imminently, it is clear HMRC is being put under increasing pressure by the Chancellor.

"George Osborne needs to get a grip of HMRC ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review, otherwise he runs the risk of undermining taxpayers’ trust at a time when it is most needed.”