Autumn Statement 2013: Chancellor targets £9bn avoidance tax grab The biggest potential revenue-earner, slated to raise £3.27bn by the end of the period, is from a clampdown on avoidance measures used by partnerships, affecting the likes of law firms, accountants and asset managers. Initial figures, released at the 2013 Budget, suggested the Treasury would collect around £1bn but that has been increased dramatically after a consultation with "alternative investment fund managers," largely hedge funds. Figures released yesterday show that the Treasury is now expecting to raise a further £1.92bn over the period from what it termed an "extension" to encompass such funds. David Whiscombe, director of tax at accountants Berg Kaprow Lewis said: "The changes to the taxation of the "corporate partnership" structures which have become increasingly common will require either a very significant increase in the tax bill or a rapid trip back to the drawing board to find compliant structures." The second biggest potential money-spinner for the Chancellor, slated to raise £2.19bn by the end of the period, is stopping the use of "onshore employment intermediaries," whereby companies hire so-called "self-employed" staff via a third-party, so avoiding tax, NICs, pension and holiday payments. The practice is particularly prevalent in the construction and agricultural sectors. A further £525m is due to come from stopping oil and gas services groups supplying equipment via an overseas subsidiary in a lower tax regime, while the Government is also seeking to raise £270m from an assault on "dual contracts." This is the practice whereby high-earning, non-domiciled individuals avoid tax by splitting their duties of employment between the UK and overseas, effectively holding separate contracts for each. Chris Sanger, head of tax policy at accountant EY, said, however, that in an age of globalisation it could be difficult to determine the amount of tax due in each jurisdiction. "A question for the whole of the tax system is that we are having to adjust for a world that is changing," he said. A clampdown on tax relief for investments in VCTs - trusts that largely invest in start-up or young companies - is also mooted to bring in £140m. The Government is seeking to ensure that the relief cannot be earned where investors buy shares in a trust with a prior agreement that they will be bought back at a future date for cash. In total, the Government plans to raise £6.8bn over the period from tackling tax avoidance and evasion and a further £2.3bn from reducing fraud and errors in the tax credit system. Patrick Stevens, tax policy director at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said the £9bn figure was "a large number even in the context of what is often claimed for rule changes of this sort." He said it was "an ambitious and optimistic target" and pointed out that "it is very seldom that numbers are ever published after the event showing estimates of how much tax is actually raised as a result of such measures."