Tax informants raise £2.2m

HMRC informant bill hits £2.2mHMRC investigators have handed over more than £2.2m to informants identifying tax dodgers over the past five years, reports David Byers in the Times, who adds that the Revenue did not declare any this outlay it in annual accounts. Tax office figures show that £2.23m has been handed out since 2013, with £343,500 paid out in the 2017/18 tax year; £421,460 in 2016/17; £460,433 in 2015/16; £604,800 in 2014/15, and £402,160 in 2013/14. Sir Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said HMRC's risk and intelligence service funds the payments. Former HMRC employee Adam Craggs, a partner at law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, commented: “It is not a transparent process and it is, to a certain extent, open to abuse for those with vested interests.” Mr Byers cites a source at HMRC who says a £250,000 payout would have to be approved at director-general level and would only get the green light if the tip off provided "mother-lode material", adding: "It would have to be enough to close down a company, or something."