Increased VAT investigations

Increased VAT investigations bring in £11.4bn

Increased tax compliance measures have yielded £11.4bn in unpaid tax, with HMRC increasing the number of investigations into wealthy individuals and mid-size businesses. The tax office opened 23% more inquiries into unpaid VAT, with 109,400 in the last financial year compared to 88,700 the year before. Cases opened into individuals and small businesses were up 22%, while cases into large businesses rose 17%. The biggest increase from VAT compliance investigations came from the large businesses section, with an additional £5bn pulled in. The gap between what HMRC estimates it is owed in VAT and what it collected stood at £8.8bn in the 2022/23 tax year, up from £7.6bn in 2021/22.