Pledges made by the Treasury regarding the creation of the new department include delivering improvements for customers through more effective, joined-up services, improving fairness by making better use of information across HMRC to help target compliance activities, cracking down on those trying to abuse the system, and delivering efficiency improvements.

The legislation published on Thursday also provides for the creation of a new independent prosecutions office, the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office (RCPO). This new body is intended to ensure the independence of prosecutors, enable a greater degree of external scrutiny, improve standards, and make prosecutors accountable to the Attorney General.

Unveiling the merger bill last Thursday, Ms Primarolo explained that:

"We are committed to ensuring that our tax administration is best placed to deliver the best possible service to taxpayers. The establishment of HMRC, integrating the work of Customs and the Revenue, represents a major contribution to the Government's public service reform agenda, aimed at delivering real service improvements for people and businesses throughout Britain."