Background
HMRC defines wealthy taxpayers as those with incomes of £200,000 or more, or assets at or above £2 million, in any of the last three years. Wealthy taxpayers may present a higher risk of error than other taxpayers as the amounts involved are greater and they may have more complex financial affairs.
This report will examine how HMRC identifies and tackles the tax risks associated with wealthy taxpayers, how it supports wealthy taxpayers to pay the right tax, and how it intervenes in good time if people get things wrong. HMRC has a specific team to look into the tax affairs of wealthy taxpayers. We last examined HMRC’s approach to wealthy taxpayers in detail in 2016 in our report, HMRC’s approach to collecting tax from high net worth individuals. HMRC no longer has a specific unit to manage high net worth individuals (the wealthiest taxpayers) and instead manages them as part of its overall approach to wealthy taxpayers.
Scope
We will look at whether HMRC:
- has a good understanding of wealthy taxpayers, their tax liabilities and the associated risks that they do not pay the correct amount of tax
- is effective at encouraging compliance and tackling non-compliance among wealthy taxpayers
- has the arrangements in place to improve its compliance performance for wealthy taxpayers and deliver on its strategic ambitions
NAO Team
Director: Andy Morrison
Audit Manager: Andy Serlin