Phil demands answers from Treasury on closing the "Mayfair tax loophole" for Bankers

Phil has demanded answers from the Treasury on how it plans to tackle tax avoidance schemes exploited by private equity and hedge fund managers, such as the "Mayfair tax loophole" in the House of Commons on 21 July 2015.

HMRC has reported that tax avoidance cost the UK economy £4.1 billion in 2012/2013, nearly four times the cost of benefit fraud during the same fiscal year. Other organisations, such as the Public and Commercial Services Union, have estimated that avoidance schemes cost the UK economy £19.1 billion pounds per year.

Phil asked David Gauke, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether "he intends to close these loopholes”, including the “Mayfair tax loophole”, which equity and hedge fund managers exploit in order to avoid tax. While Mr Gauke stated that “the Budget contained a number of measures that were designed to close loopholes for the private equity and hedge fund industries”, he gave no specific examples of these measures, and did not directly address whether he intends to close the “Mayfair tax loophole”.

Commenting on the response, Phil said:

"I am disappointed that the Financial Secretary to the Treasury avoided giving a real answer to how tax avoidance, including the “Mayfair tax loophole” will be tackled. Tax avoidance costs the economy nearly four times as much as benefit fraud, yet this government blames the most vulnerable in society for the economic problems caused by a lack of regulation and enforcement in the financial industry.”

 

The video can be found below: