Taxation
7 September 2014
Taxation is a one of the key areas of enquiry for the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts (PAC), as the Committee has a role in scrutinising value for money, the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of public spending and holds the government and its civil servants to account for public services.
As HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) mission is to collect the money that pays for the UK's public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support and it aims to administer the tax system in an efficient way, the Committee has an important role in ensuring that HMRC is doing its utmost to achieve this effectively and to the benefit of all taxpayers.
The Committee of Public Accounts has therefore routinely scrutinised HM Revenue and Customs' ability to collect taxes fairly and efficiently; exposed concerns about the tax planning industry; and contributed to the debate on the way in which multinational organisations arrange their tax affairs.
Global Tax Transparency Summit
In December 2016, the Committee of Public Accounts is hosting the first Global Tax Transparency Summit in London, in response to calls to bring together Parliaments from across the world to promote tax transparency and prevent tax avoidance.
Previous Reports
Below are the Committee's reports on taxation since 2012.
Session 2012–13
| Report | Link |
| Nineteenth Report: HM Revenue & Customs: Annual Report and Accounts 2011–12 | PDF 980KB |
| Twenty-ninth Report: Tax avoidance, tackling marketed avoidance schemes | PDF 532KB |
| Forty-fourth Report: Tax avoidance, the role of large accountancy firms | PDF 528KB |
Session 2013–14
| Report | Link |
| Seventh Report: Charity Commission: the Cup Trust and tax avoidance | PDF 1.12MB |
| Ninth Report: Tax avoidance – Google | PDF 1.04MB |
| Thirty-fourth Report: HMRC Tax Collection: Annual Report and Accounts 2012–13 | PDF 1.30MB |
Session 2014–15
| Report | Link |
| Third Report: Tax reliefs | PDF 168KB |
| Eighteenth Report: HMRC's progress in improving tax compliance and preventing tax avoidance | PDF 192KB |
| Thirty-eighth Report: Tax avoidance: the role of large accountancy firms (follow-up) | PDF 148KB |
| Forty-ninth Report: The effective management of tax reliefs | PDF 296KB |
| Fiftieth Report: Improving tax collection | PDF 400KB |
Session 2015–16
| Report | Link |
| Sixth Report: HM Revenue and Customs performance in 2014–15 | PDF 248KB |
| Twenty-fifth Report: Corporate tax settlements | PDF 272KB |
| Supplementary: Background of the prior PAC hearings with Google | |
| Thirty-fourth Report: Tackling tax fraud | PDF 316KB |
Session 2017–19
| Report | Link |
| First Report: Tackling online VAT fraud and error | PDF 752KB |