Tax enforcement

Tax fraud cost the Treasury an estimated £20bn in 2018/19, nine times more than benefits fraud (which cost £2.2bn). Despite this, the Department for Work and Pensions is far more zealous in tackling benefits fraud than HM Revenue & Customs is in tackling tax fraud. In addition, the government allocates significantly more resources (relative to the tax and benefits gaps) to compliance in the benefits system than in the tax system. As a result, many more cases of benefits fraud (mostly involving people on low incomes) are prosecuted as a criminal offence than cases of tax fraud (often involving people on higher incomes). This disparity cannot be explained by differences in the severity of the crimes committed; people who are convicted of tax fraud generally receive longer sentences than people convicted of benefits fraud. The fact that someone committing benefits fraud is more likely to face criminal prosecution and go to jail than someone engaged in tax fraud raises serious questions about whether the rule of law is being applied fairly across society.