HMRC advertising
In 2004-05, HMRC spent a total of £6,553,501 on television advertising and £2,541,229 on radio advertising. This compares with £6,053,115 and £1,879,729 respectively in 2003-04. The difference in the amounts can to some extent be explained by over £1 million (television) and £334,528 (radio) being spent on advertising the child trust fund in 2004-05. Given the poor take-up of the child trust fund vouchers (see Mike Truman's comment 'It could be you?', Taxation, 2 February 2006, page 435), this could be described as poor value for money.