Big business tax probes 18 times more lucrative than SME action
Figures suggest that HMRC should avoid focusing on SMEs, says UHY Hacker Young
Tax investigations into multinational companies are 18 times more productive
than those into SMEs, UHY Hacker Young has said.
For every £1 HMRC spent on investigations into multinationals during 2008/09,
they recovered £181 of tax.
In contrast, tax investigations into SMEs and private individuals only
generated £10 of extra tax for every £1 invested.
In the past 12 months, HMRC has generated £4.9bn through tax enquiries into
multinationals, but just £359m from Self Assessment business and personal tax
enquiries, the accountancy firm found.
Roy Maugham, tax partner at UHY Hacker Young said: “The government is under
pressure to reduce the UK budget deficit and the expectation is that they will
try and collect more money from tax investigations.
“If that is the case these figures suggest that HMRC should avoid focusing on
SMEs.”
The taxman said in response:
“HMRC is committed to ensure that all businesses pay the right tax at the
right time. Our inquiry work is targeted to risk.”
