The chief executive of one of the big four accountancy firms, Deloitte, has blamed UK law for the money lost as a result of tax avoidance.
Speaking on Jeff Randall Live, David Sproul admitted that the problem with the tax system is "mainly the law".
He said: "There's clearly tax practices that take advantage of the rules that the Government has brought in.
"The real question is the extent to which that is accepted. And I think there's no question that business recognises that what is acceptable has changed."
As an example of a practice no longer deemed acceptable, he cited the way banks used trust arrangements to pay bonuses to employees that meant they avoided national insurance and allowed them to defer the tax on those bonuses.
"That was widely accepted and was at the time widely used, we would have advised clients on it at the time. But we would not do that now."
In the middle of the Government's stringent austerity programme, large companies that have avoided paying tax legally have prompted much public anger and protests in recent times. Ministers are also anxious to do what they can to bolster the UK's public finances in the gloomy economic climate.
In his recent Budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced a series of measures to clamp down on aggressive tax avoidance and evasion in a bid to deliver an extra £4.6bn to the Exchequer.
The new initiatives included the immediate closure of 10 loopholes; the naming and shaming of those who promote tax avoidance schemes; and a new focus on offshore tax evasion through agreements with havens such as the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.
Mr Osborne also announced a tightening of the rules for companies that choose to arrange loans, which do not attract tax, for their directors or shareholders in place of taxable salaries or dividends.
Mr Sproul said "a lot" of the current tax gap was "at the small business and sole trader end".
"Some of it clearly is at the large business end and goes to some of the points (the Chancellor) is talking about," he added.
He denied claims that accountancy firms like his own used alleged staff shortages at HM Revenue and Customs to their advantage.
"The complexity (of the tax system) is what creates the problem, not the fact that HMRC may or may not have too few staff."
Mr Sproul welcomed the Chancellor's focus in this month's Budget on making the UK's tax regime more competitive, including the move to cut corporation tax to 20% from 2015. That was "very attractive, very important and does create jobs", he said.
He added that the reason "there is not a flood of companies coming to the UK now is not about the tax system, it's about the broader uncertainty in the economy".
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