HMRC targets 200 billionaires in crackdown on tax avoidance

HMRC has assigned dedicated tax compliance managers to every billionaire linked to the UK in a bid to maximise revenue and crackdown on avoidance.

Over 200 billionaires have been identified by the tax authority, and will now be paired with a ‘Customer Compliance Manager’ who will offer pre-filing discussions to help manage their affairs.

The initiative has been launched in a bid to close what HMRC terms the “wealthy tax gap,” which was estimated at £3.6bn in 2024/2025. This represented six per cent of the entire tax gap – the difference between the amount of tax that should have been paid to the government and what was collected.

Labour MP James Murray said: “Wealthy taxpayers make a significant contribution to the Exchequer and wider economy; the 1.3 million individuals in the population accounted for £160 billion in tax receipts in 2025 to 2026.

“Their tax affairs can involve multiple taxes, businesses, investments, trusts and jurisdictions, making effective tax administration increasingly dependent on HMRC having a joined-up understanding of their circumstances,” the financial secretary to the Treasury and paymaster general added.

“Our aim is to make it easier for taxpayers to understand and meet their obligations, using better information to reduce unnecessary contact and identify potential problems earlier, whilst concentrating specialist compliance activity on the areas of greatest risk.”

These 200 billionaires have been identified as those who have a UK tax footprint. This means they are required to submit a UK self-assessment return, but may not be a resident. They join a collection of around 2,400 wealthy individuals who already have a compliance manager in the UK.

The move comes alongside a plan to use new technology to monitor the tax affairs of these wealthy individuals. This will include “advanced analytics, automated triggers and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify emerging risks earlier and target compliance activity where it will have greatest impact”.

In a new report, HMRC writes: “Wealthy customers’ tax affairs can involve several UK and international income sources, financial accounts, assets, entities and advisers.

“Better information and modern technology can make tax administration simpler and more effective. They can help customers and their advisers understand their tax position and get their tax right, while giving HMRC earlier insight into potential risks and better tools to manage complex tax affairs.”

It adds that, alongside hiring 400 new tax specialists, the changes will raise at least £500m as part of a larger commitment to claw back £10bn in additional tax revenues by 2030.

Last year, HMRC was criticised by the Public Accounts Committee for failing to track how many billionaires pay tax in the UK. There were “significant opportunities to collect more revenue” being missed through the lack of oversight, the government’s spending watchdog found at the time.