UK Proposes More Power to Tax Authority for Closing Tax Gap

The UK government proposed a slew of measures to boost the tax authority’s power to collect taxes and clamp down on tax evasion.

In a package released Wednesday, the government opened consultations proposing to strengthen the authority of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to penalize tax advisers and promoters of tax avoidance schemes, increase data collection from financial institutions, and impose tougher nonfinancial sanctions for noncompliance.

The measures form a part of the government’s new target of raising an additional £7.5 billion ($9.7 billion) a year of tax revenue by 2029–30, as against its previous ...