The £17 billion of tax HMRC is choosing not to collect

Britain is constantly told there isn’t enough money. We’re told there isn’t enough to build council housing. Not enough to improve transport. Not enough to invest in local communities. Not enough to repair public services. Ignore modern monetary theory for a moment, and ask instead, what if that isn’t the real problem? In this video, I examine HMRC’s latest tax gap statistics, and they reveal something ridiculous. According to HMRC’s own figures, around £17.3 billion of corporation tax owed by small companies is not being paid. That is part of a total corporation tax gap of around £21 billion, and it raises serious questions about whether Britain is choosing not to collect money that is already legally due in tax. Andy Burnham says he wants to invest much more if he becomes Prime Minister, but he also says he will stick to Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules. If he believes government needs more money before it can spend (even if that is not true), then recovering tax that is already legally owed surely has to come before introducing entirely new taxes. In this video I explain: • what the tax gap actually is; • why the small company corporation tax has become the fastest-growing part of it; • why HMRC’s own figures point towards an explosion of non-payment by small companies; • why honest businesses are being placed at a competitive disadvantage; • how £17 billion could fund around 50,000 new council homes every year; • why I drafted legislation over a decade ago that would have tackled much of this problem. This isn’t simply a debate about tax. It’s about whether Britain still believes in enforcing company law, maintaining fair competition, supporting local economies and encouraging honest business to invest by ensuring that everyone plays by the same rules. Take a look at the poll below:    • Post   TRANSCRIPT A transcript for this video is available at: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2... HOW TO SUPPORT US Please consider donating: https://ko-fi.com/taxresearch ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’. This video was edited by Thomas Murphy. RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurp... OR ON MY BLOG: http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/ HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS Subscribe and get notified of new videos released. INTRODUCTION:    • Welcome to my channel - Richard J Murphy -...   PLAYLISTS: The Wealth Series    • The Wealth Series   Ecenomics    • Ecenomics   Britain    • Britain   Tax    • Tax   MMT    • MMT   Money    • Money   Climate Change    • Climate Change   USA    • America and Trump   Labour    • Playlist   The Trump Administration    • Playlist   #richardmurphy #richardjmurphy #economy #economics #accountancy #accounting #tax #uktax #ukeconomy #greennewdeal #uk #money #economy #politics #government #tax #labour #health #life #TaxGap #CorporationTax #AndyBurnham #CouncilHousing #TaxJustice #HMRC #CompaniesHouse #SmallBusiness #UKPolitics #UKEconomy #PublicFinance #HousingCrisis #CouncilHouses #TaxAvoidance #TaxEvasion #EconomicPolicy #FiscalRules #RachelReeves #ModernMonetaryTheory #MMT #PublicInvestment #FairTax #UKHousing #PoliticalEconomy #FundingTheFuture #RichardMurphy