Public purse 'loses £13bn a year from tax dodgers'

Large companies and wealthy citizens are paying less tax than the government intends them to, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

Its Missing Billions research into 344 sets of accounts from the top 50 British companies reveals their corporation tax is 22.5 per cent rather than the 30 per cent agreed by parliament.

Moving incomes and profits into more favourable assets and locations is popular among the rich when it comes to saving on tax responsibilities, the study suggested.

Strategies employed by these groups makes the public purse about £13 billion lighter a year, it concluded.

General secretary Brendan Barber said: "Most people think that we have a progressive tax system, but it has now been hollowed out by so many loopholes and allowances that too much tax is now voluntary for the rich."

He called for a campaign to overhaul the tax system that would have the backing of people who had "nothing to fear" from the TUC's proposals.

The TUC has 66 affiliated unions that represent almost seven million workers.