Labour promises tougher tax penalties

Labour promises tougher penalties for tax dodgers

The shadow chancellor Ed Balls will today promise an urgent crackdown on tax avoidance. In a parliamentary debate say Harris & Co accountants Northampton, Labour will pledge new legislation to increase transparency and toughen penalties, ranging from introducing more penalties for tax abuse to changing the way that hedge funds pay tax on UK shares they trade. Mr Balls said David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne had "totally failed" to tackle avoidance in the past five years. "They have failed to close the loopholes we have highlighted. And the amount of uncollected tax has risen under this government. I am determined that the next Labour government will act where the Tories have failed."