Britain gains record 23.9bn pounds with crackdown tax avoidance

The British government raised a record 23.9 billion pounds (40.2 billion U.S. dollars) for the year to March in additional tax as a result of increased activity to make sure people pay the taxes they owe, data from British tax authority showed Tuesday. The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said it had secured the money as a result of its investigations, on top of the tax collected from those who pay their taxes on time. HMRC added that the additional tax is up 3.2 billion pounds on the previous year, up 9 billion pounds on three years ago and nearly 1 billion pounds above the target set by British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in the Autumn Statement 2013. In total, the institution had raised more than 8 billion pounds from large businesses, over 1 billion pounds from criminals and 2.7 billion from tackling avoidance schemes in the courts, said HMRC. The crackdown on tax dodgers launched by the British government has resulted in a number of tribunal wins, and also seen corporation tax and stamp duty land tax loopholes closed, protecting the Exchequer from tax going unpaid. Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said:"The government supports the hardworking, honest majority of taxpayers who play by the rules, and is determined to tackle the minority who seek to avoid paying the taxes they owe." "We set HMRC ambitious targets to increase its yield and the figures published today demonstrate that HMRC is successfully meeting these challenges. It also sends a clear signal - HMRC will pursue those seeking to avoid their responsibilities and will collect the taxes that are due," said Gauke. (1 pound = 1.68 U.S. dollars)