Speeches by Caliskan.

“That is really helpful. I want to ask about the length of time, but is there something that you wanted to come in with before then, Lloyd?”

“I want to come back to the length of time, because there are some risks associated with the length of time being so long. If I could quickly talk about the targeting of investigations to cases where non-compliance is happening, has that improved as an organisation? Can you point to one or two things that the organisati…”

“I want to be clear about that.”

“Where I would not want you to end up is not opening cases at all.”

“That does not mean, though, that it is a good formula.”

“I am sorry to interrupt, because I am really keen to hear your response to that, but does it not concern you that almost half of the compliance cases close with no yield? From what you have said, John-Paul, I would suggest that you are saying, “That does not matter, as long as we are getting high yield”.”

“Having confidence in a figure is important, because it gives the organisation a sense of whether it is successful in using the tools that you have at your disposal and in targeting a group of individuals who will generate significant income for HMRC. I just want to press again on that figure. If you are not confident a…”

“Why has it grown? If you were doing investigations and they were taking 27 months, why is it now taking 40 months?”

“Sorry, just to be clear, I should have said that the figure that I am referencing is the £1.9 billion figure. When we consider the numbers from HMRC and we talk about wealthy individuals, a £1.9 billion figure is significant for many people, but, in terms of the overall numbers, seems rather low. How confident are you …”

“What is your understanding of what that figure is at the moment? How confident are you about that figure? It does seem low.”

“Is there any particular work that focuses on the tax gap for the wealthiest individuals as opposed to the overall figure?”

“We have already spoken a bit about wealthy compliance cases, but I would like to just come back to it. The report also talks about the process for being able to deal with those cases, which, by their very nature, are complicated. Cases may take a lot longer because of due process and lengthy correspondence with the tax…”

“Does that include the wealthy figure too?”

“I just want to be clear, and I am not making a value statement here. It does not concern you, as an organisation, that almost half of the compliance investigations close in no yield. That is because, for instance, it might be that you have investigated and there is no reason. I am just trying to get a sense of whether …”

“Is there a relationship between the length of time that it takes to complete these cases and the yield? In your assessment or your understanding, is there a trend that can be identified, or is that simply just not the case?”

“There is a tax gap estimate at the moment. In your view, will the steps that you are outlining and the proposals that are being considered at the moment improve that estimate?”

“Let me ask you about that. The majority of the population understand that, for wealthier individuals, their tax affairs are complicated. They recognise that they would have an agent or an accountant in the way that the majority of people, and certainly my constituents, are unable to pay for. They recognise that, for HM…”

“Why? What has happened? Is it the resourcing?”

“In your analysis of where you might minimise the risk, so setting out the risks that you identify, your interaction with the agents will be a really key component in being able to make sure that you prevent non-compliance in the first place, which, presumably, for HMRC is a much better and more effective approach than …”

“Yes.”