Total tax outstanding for years of assessment 2009 to 2013 (FOI)

​Request

I recently submitted an FOI request about outstanding tax. The response stated that “the cumulative position over the last five years of assessment is that only 1.42% of tax due remains to be collected” but the response did not actually put that in figures – i.e. what that 1.42 per cent is in money terms. Could you tell me what it is, please?

Response

The figure of 1.42% is an average percentage of the position for each of the years of assessment 2009 to 2013.

The total tax outstanding over this five year period as at 28 February 2015 is £31,245,314.

It is reiterated that at any given point in time not all tax that could have been collected will have been received by the Taxes Office. This could be for many reasons and the amount outstanding will change over time as appeals are settled and assessments are agreed.

For example, taking the year of assessment 2009 in isolation, the amount of tax outstanding for that year (£2,030,754) is just 0.51% of the total tax assessed as at 28 February 2015.