TUC REPORT ON THE UK TAX GAP

That this House welcomes the TUC Report, The Missing Billions - The UK Tax Gap; congratulates its author Richard Murphy, Director of Tax Research LLP, on a brilliant analysis of how tax losses to the Treasury and thus to the public purse amount to £33 billion each year; notes that this figure comprises £13 billion from tax avoidance by individuals, £12 billion from tax avoidance by the 700 largest corporations and £8 billion from tax planning by individuals earning more than £100,000 per annum; believes that this vast lost revenue should be collected in future years and used, among other things, to raise the state pension, increase child benefit and pay for free long-term care; and strongly supports the report's conclusion that action can be taken to address the problem and that what is required to achieve this is the necessary political will.