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HMRC's 2007 Departmental Report, which details the Department's performance for last year, has been laid before Parliament and subsequently published on their website.

For the first time since the creation of HMRC on 18 April 2005, this Report combines the former Spring Departmental and Annual Reports into one document.

The report details HMRC's business and operations and how the Department is currently performing against its Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets. These are the operational targets set by the Government by which Departmental progress is measured.

Key achievements highlighted in the Report include:

• Increase in tax revenues for the second consecutive year - HMRC collected net receipts of £423bn from taxes, duties and other revenue. This represents an increase of £25bn on the previous year. Increased earnings saw the monies collected through income taxes and NICs rise by £14bn, nominal spending growth led to a rise of £4.5bn in VAT receipts and an increase in receipts from onshore companies saw the corporation tax yield rise by £2.5bn.
• Increased prosecutions for VAT fraud - A total of 14 criminal prosecutions were concluded in 2006-07, resulting in 45 convictions and jail sentences totalling 149 years.
• Reductions in the administrative burden for business - According to the Report, at April 2007, HMRC had delivered a reduction in the administrative burden from Forms and Returns estimated at £130mn (net), and an estimated reduction of £43mn in the burden from Audits and Inspections.
• Increased uptake of online services - pension schemes, Stamp Duty Land Tax and the new Construction Industry Scheme can all now be managed online. With regards to self assessment online, some 2.9mn returns were submitted electronically last year, representing almost one third of all returns.
• Effective action taken against all forms of organised smuggling - Significant seizures of illicit goods that threaten not only the economy, but the well-being of the nation, included counterfeit medicines with no active ingredients, and 51% of all cigarette seizures proving to be counterfeits.

Introducing his first Departmental report since being confirmed as Executive Chairman of HM Revenue & Customs, Paul Gray said:

"It is barely two years since we merged the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise and the received wisdom is that performance drops when major restructuring takes place. It hasn't. I am very proud of that achievement both, because of what it says about the huge and successful efforts of my committed and capable workforce and because we are delivering good value for money for the taxpayer."

Link

HMRC Spring 2007 Departmental Report