“SHADOW companies” and spivs are sneaking nearly £50 billion pounds of owed tax past our cuts-crazed Chancellor each year, a tax expert claimed yesterday.

Trade unions and campaigners against austerity have demanded a crackdown at Companies House after the Tax Justice Network’s latest calculations of tax evasion suggested that “rampant fraud” is costing us an amount equal to the government’s spending on housing, the environment and transport put together.

The study draws on HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and European Union figures on missing VAT payments to suggest that up to £100bn worth of sales in Britain take place under the table each year.