Autumn Statement 2013: Osborne unveils radical package to tackle tax evasion

The government has today unveiled what it said was an unprecedented package of measures to tackle tax avoidance, evasion, fraud and error.

The package will raise £9bn for the Treasury over the next five years, George Osborne said. Measures include preventing employment intermediaries from disguising employment as self-employment to avoid tax, and introducing a new power requiring taxpayers using avoidance schemes that have already been defeated in the courts to pay the tax they are trying to avoid upfront. Osborne was delivering his Autumn Statement in the House of Commons on Thursday. Neal Todd, of international law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner, questioned the need for extra tax measures beyond the General Anti-Abuse...