Speeches

Lord Roberts of Llandudno – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Roberts of Llandudno on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the smallest amount of unpaid tax that has led to a criminal prosecution in the UK in the last 10 years.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The information is not held in the form requested.

The smallest amount of revenue loss prevented in respect of individuals prosecuted between 2011/12 and 2014/15 is £162. The person prosecuted was a member of aircrew who attempted to bring 600 cigarettes into the UK without declaring them, thus attempting to evade the correct excise duty on them. Aircrew are deemed to hold privileged positions due to their unrestricted airport access and HM Revenue and Customs has a zero tolerance approach to prosecution should they not declare dutiable goods when entering the UK.