The government is to spend £77 million cracking down on tax avoidance in an attempt to raise extra revenue and reduce the deficit.
Chancellor George Osborne said prosecutions for tax evasion rose 80{06aeb1921e0b802d2bd9c766bc98fb11cc6a46c2b0593ed9c88a0e29cf417a34} over the past year and the government has added 2,500 tax inspectors to pursue tax evaders.
“We will spend more fighting tax avoidance,” said Mr Osborne, adding that hiking tax on the rich would do nothing to assist the economy.
Mr Osborne added that the UK would use its forthcoming G8 presidency to push new international efforts on corporate tax evasion.
He added: “We want the most competitive corporate tax rate of any economy. We will put more into ensuring multi-national companies pay their proper share of taxes and we are leading international efforts.
“With Germany and France, we have asked the OECD to take this forward. We expect the amount collected to increase by £2 billion a year. But that is not enough by itself to close the deficit.
“Next year, for the first time in our history, money will be flowing from bank accounts in Switzerland, instead of the other way round.”
Source: Insolvency News