UNITED KINGDOM
An investigation has been opened into how the United Kingdom Department of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) conducts its data collecting after a double-counting error added almost £7 billion ($A13.1 billion) to its Corporation Tax receipt statistics.
The Office for Statistics Regulation has confirmed it will conduct the review, which will cover the Department’s quality-assurance principles and processes.
Director General for Regulation, Ed Humpherson said HMRC had invited the watchdog to give an independent assessment of the Department’s approach and identify areas of improvement after the significant error emerged earlier this year.
While the error did not result in any financial loss to the nation’s coffers, it did mean that Corporation Tax receipts statistics reflected a figure that grew to become a combined £6.95 billion higher than should have been the case.
Mr Humpherson said HMRC’s most recent set of Corporation Tax statistics, published in September, had corrected the data and noted that the actual figures reported in HMRC’s accounts remained the same.
“We know that HMRC very much regrets this error and we are pleased to help you take a proactive approach to improving quality management processes across your statistics,” Mr Humpherson wrote to Chief Statistician at HMRC, Sean Whellams.
“We intend that our final recommendations will be forward looking and focus on improvements HMRC can make to help avoid issues in the future.”
He said the review would consider existing quality assurance processes and current improvement plans within the Knowledge, Analysis and Intelligence Directorate of HMRC.
A spokesperson for HMRC said the Department very much regretted the statistical error and reiterated that it did not affect the amount of tax paid by companies and received by HMRC.
London, 10 November, 2019
