Gareth Davies, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) of the National Audit Office, has reported on the 2018-19 accounts of HM Revenue & Customs. His report focuses on: HMRC’s performance against its objective of collecting revenues; the income tax system; and HMRC’s approach to managing fraud, error and debt in Personal Tax Credits and Child Benefit. The C&AG has qualified his regularity audit opinion on the 2018-19 Resource Accounts because of material levels of error and fraud in Personal Tax Credits expenditure.
Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs annual report and accounts 2018-19
Audit report (pages R4-R53)
Resource accounts audit certificate (pages 169-172)
Trust Statement audit report (on the revenue recorded by HMRC for taxes and duties in 2018-19, pages 166-168)
“No tax collection system can ensure that everyone meets their obligations, but HMRC can do more to get a clearer picture of the causes of fraud and error in tax credits, the increase in Self Assessment tax returns and what these mean to its costs and plans going forward. HMRC will need to do this against a challenging backdrop of preparing for the UK’s exit from the EU.”
Gareth Davies, the Comptroller and Auditor General
Publication details
- HC: 2394
Press release
View press release (19 Jul 2019)
