Benefit Fraud vs Tax & Unclaimed Benefit

Some stats I just looked up.

First unclaimed benefits. The source for this is the DWP:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17139088 "The DWP has outlined data on the various income-related benefits that were not claimed. The latest figures, which refer to 2009-10, include:
Up to 620,000 people failing to claim up to £2bn in income support, and employment and support allowance
Up to 1.6 million people failing to claim up to £2.8bn in pension credit
Up to 1.1 million people not claiming up to £3.1bn in housing benefit
Up to 3.2 million people missing out on up to £2.4bn in council tax benefit
Up to 610,000 people failing to claim up to £1.95bn in jobseeker's allowance"
TOTAL 12.3 bn.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21121840
" money lost to tax evasion is the equivalent of £530 for every household in the UK" if we say 22 million households thats £12 billion.

http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/how-much-does-benefit-fraud-cost/3423
Quotes the DWP benefit fraud £1 billion a year.

Not paying tax is a much bigger problem than benefit fraud. But the tories and some of the press focus on benefit fraud, they are less likely to get party donations from them after all.


I started with this quote but couldnt find a source, so looked up some stats myself.

"it is wrong that people claim benefits they are not entitled to. But it is worth remembering that for every £1 lost in benefit fraud £17 goes unclaimed because people are too frightened to claim them. For comparison another £15 is lost in tax fraud, and £70 in tax avoidance. It is clear to me where the biggest problem lies."