Data was provided to private client law firm Collyer Bristow. The group said £55m of the extra CGT related to investigations into wealthy individuals and mid-sized businesses, while the remaining £85m was raised from everyday taxpayers and small businesses.
James Badcock, partner at Collyer Bristow, said: “The Revenue has kept the spotlight on CGT avoidance schemes, abuse and error over the last year. It has proved a fruitful area for enquiries and they are likely to continue in this vein.
“A continuous stream of high profile tax avoidance cases in the media- including the Panama Papers scandal- means that pressure on HMRC to stamp out what it sees as abuses remains intense.”
The past few weeks have seen a number of high profile celebrities come under scrutiny for tax avoidance schemes. The National Audit Office last year also called for more scrutiny of the capital gains tax exemption for primary residences, which is costing the exchequer £18bn a year.
Collyer Bristow says that statistics make clear that CGT remains an area of focus for HMRC and taxpayers should ensure their affairs are in order. He added that HMRC can be expected to look closely at anything that goes against the spirit of the law and any deliberate or negligent underpayment
New rates of CGT were introduced in last year’s Budget, reducing the higher rate to 20% from 28% and the basic rate from 10% to 18% from April 2016.
‘Deliberate underpayment’
Badcock said that at least a proportion of the additional revenue is likely to relate to deliberate or calculated underpayment, though some will be genuine errors: “Marketed schemes exist to reduce the amount of tax on the disposal or transfer of an asset. They employ a range of mechanisms, including the creation of artificial capital losses to offset the tax.
There are also taxpayers who simply fail to declare or undervalue an asset which has been disposed of or transferred, thereby cutting CGT collected.”
