Tax debt remains stubbornly high

The tax owed to the Exchequer but remaining unpaid was £45.5bn at the end of September 2023 according to HMRC figures. This a reduction from the £45.9bn balance for the quarter ending 30 June 2023.

By the end of Sept 2023 HMRC was managing £5.7bn of debt through time-to-pay arrangements for 889 000 taxpayers.  

The new debt figures have been released just days after HMRC published its new tax debt strategy developed in response to a 2021 report from the National Audit Office

The new strategy outlines how the authority intends to be a responsible creditor while minimising the volume and value of tax debt. It focuses on four areas - preventing tax debt tailoring interventions effective and efficient resolution and being adaptable.

Dawn Register head of tax dispute resolution at BDO said: ‘These figures show that tax...