HMRC has confirmed the tax gap for 2017-18 is 5.6 percent, meaning 94.4 percent of all the tax due was collected.

Overall, the tax gap has fallen from 7.2 percent since 2005 to 2006, but only by 0.1 percent from the previous tax year.

Since 2010 over £200 billion has been collected that would otherwise have gone unpaid as a result of HMRC's actions to tackle tax evasion, tax avoidance, and non-compliance.

The duty-only excise tax gap has reduced from 8.4 percent in 2005 to 2006, to 5.1 percent in 2017 to 2018, while the Corporation Tax gap has reduced from 12.5 percent in 2005 to 2006, to 8.1 percent in 2017 ...