Claim: For every 1p lost to benefit 'thieves', £2 is lost to tax avoiders.
Fact-check: Comparison of benefit fraud and tax avoidance losses is inaccurate - Full Fact
Verdict: this isn't correct. the department for work and pensions estimates that in 2022/23 £6.5 billion was overpaid in benefits due to fraud, while hmrc estimates that, in the most recent financial year for which figures are available, approximately £1.4 billion less was collected in tax than theoretically should have been as a result of tax avoidance.
Organisation: Full Fact
Author: Hannah Smith
Date published: 2023-08-24T00:00:00