Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for an update on the cooperative efforts with HMRC to address the issue of landfill tax avoidance in relation to serious waste crime.
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs: NIEA’s Enforcement Branch has an ongoing, productive relationship with its HMRC counterparts, regularly sharing information and intelligence via an information sharing agreement that has been in place since 2019.
NIEA refers suspected cases of environmental tax avoidance, including landfill tax, Aggregates Levy and VAT to HMRC. To date, NIEA has referred 167 cases to their HMRC counterparts.
NIEA and HMRC participate in bi-monthly tasking and co-ordination meetings, discussing subjects of mutual interest and monitoring progress in cases of the aforementioned suspected environmental tax avoidance.
ENDS
Your MLA 