In the politician’s strongly worded speech he said “we are coming to get you and you will pay your fair share, I mean those hiding their assets offshore too. Back in 2009, Labour made an agreement with Liechtenstein that set a time limited window that closes in 2016 for people to bring their UK tax affairs up to date.”
He continued “They thought it would raise a billion pounds…so, we are doubling the size of the team focussed on Liechtenstein. With that extra effort we can recover much more from those who thought they could hide their money offshore. Up to three times more – £3bn.
That is good progress. We should all be proud of it. Getting tough on those who don’t play by the rules. And as times get tougher, as belts get tighter, as austerity goes on for longer, it is morally necessary to do more".
He also outlined how two years ago, he announced an extra £900m to get tough on tax dodgers and that by the end of the parliament it would deliver an additional £7bn a year in revenue.
“Last year, I reported back that we were on track for an additional £2bn. And this year, I can announce we are on track to raise an additional £4bn. Fairer taxes in tough times, means everyone playing by the same rule book, and everyone paying their fair share".
He then covered the setting up of a new affluent unit within HMRC, reporting that it has raised £44m in less than a year and that its remit is to be expanded to the wealthiest 500,000 people in the country, those with net wealth of over a million pounds.
"The vast majority of taxpayers in this wealth bracket pay their fair share. We have this message to the small minority of wealthy people who don’t play by the rules: we are coming to get you and you will pay your fair share.
If you want to work for us, you should play by our rules. Taxpayers’ money should not be funding tax dodgers. So I have tasked HMRC and the Cabinet Office to come up with a workable solution to this problem and we will set out more details later this year."
