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Introduction

HMRC collects taxes needed to fund and deliver central Government spending. With the extra investment in HMRC compliance activity since 2010, HMRC is tasked with raising higher additional revenue by tackling tax avoidance and tax evasion.

A series of initiatives have been launched since 2010 to achieve the revenue target, including campaigns and task force activity but HMRC has also been given extra help in the form of increased legislative powers to collect data.

For background information on the introduction of the data-gathering powers, see Simon’s Taxes A6.325.

The data collected feeds into the analysis work conducted by the HMRC Risk and Intelligence Service and is thought to play a prominent role in determining the subject of HMRC’s so-called ‘one to many’ letters which it uses to prompt various categories of taxpayers to review their affairs. For more details, see CH600000 and ‘Good influence?’ by Lynnette Bober in Taxation, 24 March 2022, 18.

Since introduction, the data-gathering powers have been extended on a number of occasions to include:

1. •

   merchant acquirers ― businesses