Inspectors `Rig Figures for Tax Collection' ; Performance Record Is Manipulated to Look Better, Ex-Revenue Man Says

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A former tax inspector has accused the Inland Revenue of boosting its performance record by "rigging" statistics which are supposed to show how much unpaid tax officials have brought in by countering evasion and avoidance.

Joe Horner, an independent tax adviser, says he has evidence from clients and tax inspectors, that the "compliance" statistics presented annually to Parliament are "deliberately misleading, manipulated and misrepresented".

Mr Horner has challenged the compliance figures in two books and a leaflet, published privately. He says the Inland Revenue has not countered his specific allegations.

Mr Horner left the Inland Revenue in 1968 after …