Tax dodgers: It's payback

Reeves vows to claw back missing £39.8bn | HMRC to hire 5,000 investigators in 5 years

- LIZZY BUCHAN

A SQUAD of 5,000 investigators will be recruited over the next five years to hunt down tax dodgers and make them pay their fair share.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is today announcing the crackdown in a bid to close the tax gap, estimated at £39.8billion or 4.8% of the total liabilities.

Around 200 newly hired experts will be parachuted in from November to tackle the problem, with plans to beef up the force by 5,000 over this Parliament.

The vow to get tough on tax dodgers comes as the Chancellor grapples with the £22billion black hole in the public finances left by the Tories.

Ms Reeves will tell the Labour Party conference today: "At a time of hard choices, I will not tolerate the minority who continue to avoid paying what they owe.

"If you make your home and do your business in Britain, then you should pay your taxes here too."

HMRC estimates from 2022/23 reveal the £39.8billion disparity in the Treasury coffers, between the amount of tax due and the amount actually collected.

Ms Reeves will vow to power up HMRC to claw back this lost cash.