HMRC’s Measuring Tax Gap report 2022

Every year HMRC publishes updated tax gap estimates – the difference between the total tax that should be paid and the amount of tax actually paid – and we are the only tax authority in the world that measures and publishes it in such a comprehensive way.

Let’s talk numbers

The tax gap for 2020-21 is 5.1% the same as last year and much lower than when HMRC first began tracking the data back in 2005-06 when the gap was 7.5%.

For almost 20 years the department has worked hard to reduce the tax gap and the long-term downward trend shows that the measures we have put in place are helping to do this.

It is also encouraging to see that despite the impact of Covid-19 on individuals and businesses almost 95% of tax was paid during the first pandemic year. I would like...