MPs are right to chase down tax avoiders – but we’re getting close to the innocent being found guilty

Tax Hacks: a new report from MPs wants HMRC to treat cases of tax avoidance as criminal

Citizens deserve clarity about what is and what is not against the law. 

When, as chancellor, Denis Healey was asked what the difference was between tax avoidance and tax evasion he answered “the thickness of a prison wall”. 

In March 2015 a Treasury report stated: “Tax evasion is always illegal. It is when people or businesses deliberately do not declare and account for the taxes that they owe.” Put simply, tax evasion is illegal, tax avoidance is not.

However, a recent report by an All-party Parliamentary Group is attempting to dispel this as a myth. Some politicians have also attempted to confuse the position by categorising tax planning between acceptable tax planning and unacceptable tax avoidance, despite there being no legal distinction between the two.