
Is it this basic financial distinction that accounts for the differences we describe below? Do well paid legislators and prosecutors feel more empathy with tax dodgers then benefits cheats?
The following graphs suggest perhaps so:
7.4 times more money is lost through Tax Fraud than through Benefits Fraud:
- Benefits Fraud: £1.9 billion
- Tax Fraud: £14 billion (We use the National Fraud Authority (NFA) report figures, though knowledgeable commentators on tax matters assert the loss is very much greater)
10 times more in percentage terms is pinched by tax dodgers than by benefits cheats according to the NFA report:
- Benefits: 0.7% of all benefits are taken fraudulently
- Taxes: 6.7% of all taxes are not paid fraudulently (i.e. doesn't include 'avoidance' which uses legal loopholes).