Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury commenting on a National Audit Office report into HMRC’s high net worth unit which shows that estimates of tax due at the start of 2015-16 contains over £1.1 billion in tax related to the use of marketed tax avoidance schemes, said:

“This is an eye watering amount of money due from a very small percentage of high net worth individuals.  Operating cleverly outside of the spirit of our tax laws is not morally correct in most tax payers books but under the Tories it seems there has been one rule for the super-rich and another for the rest of us.

“This report highlights the hard work done by HMRC staff at time when they have faced serious cuts to their resources and numbers. It also casts a light on the industrial scale of the tax avoidance industry in our country - something that the Tories have talked tough on but clearly not delivered on in government.

“Underinvestment and deprivation in our communities here in the UK is caused by tax avoidance, so it is time to stop taking piecemeal action in fighting it.

 “It is time for a Labour government who will deal with the problem head-on.

“Labour will end the warped game that the tax dodgers and their well-paid advisers play and instead invest in HMRC, simplify our tax codes and build our laws on the simple principle that being a part of our society means paying a fair share towards its upkeep.”

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