HMRC targets high earners in record tax crackdown after £1.5bn haul

Ownership owners in the UK face a sharp increase in tax investigations, as HMRC revenue increases in the richest British after a record year for compliance revenues.

Pinsent Masons of Pinsent Masons has unveiled the freedom of accountability that the HMRC has collected more than 1.5 billion pounds of investigations in 2024-weakening the number from the previous year. The Directorate focuses on individuals who earn more than 200,000 pounds annually or carry assets exceeding two million pounds.

HMRC’s unprecedented revenue promoted compliance efforts, with 400 new specialist compliance officers that are scheduled to be recruited over the next four years. The Treasury expects that the expanded workforce will generate tax revenues of 500 million pounds by 2030.

“HMRC has been appointed some very difficult goals for collecting additional taxes by the advisor,” said Ian Robham from Bennsant Masson. “It is difficult to see how they can achieve these goals without a sharp rise in tax investigations in the wealthy.”

The Tax Authority has increased its use of artificial intelligence and data analyzes to explain the avoidance of taxes and non -compliance. Suitable for her efforts is the Connect system, which is a powerful tool for matching data that retracts the tax declarations of individuals and companies with financial information from banks, land records, social media, and external judicial authorities.

Through global agreements such as the criterion of joint reports between the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, HMRC now receives automatic notifications when UK residents transfer money to foreign accounts in the participating countries.

Investigations can provoke abnormal cases in tax declarations, assessments, or risk assessments. Once the review begins, high -value individuals may be required to provide detailed documents, including personal bank and men’s data, confidence actions, and account details abroad. They may also face interviews with compliance officers.

The penalties can vary according to the nature of the breach – from simple neglect to deliberate concealment – and can exceed 100 percent of the tax due. In serious cases, criminal claim is possible.

One of the highest outstanding examples of the most striking HMRC approach came in 2023 when Bernie Exston, former Formula One president, acknowledged guilty of fraud after failing to announce more than 400 million pounds in a binary box abroad. He avoided prison, but paid 652.6 million pounds as a tax, benefits and penalties.

The total amount collected by HMRC from the richest taxpayers – those who get more than 200,000 pounds or large assets – reached 5.2 billion pounds in the past year, an increase of 4 billion pounds in 2023. HMRC estimates that this group is still undermining the tax by 2.1 billion pounds annually.

In a statement, HMRC said: “It is our duty to ensure that each person pays the correct tax under the law, regardless of wealth or situation. The government connects the most ambitious package ever to bridge the tax gap and bring an additional 7.5 billion pounds of public services annually by 2029 to 2030.”

The increasing pressure on the owners of high observers comes to comply with an increasingly aggressive tax system, as the government is looking to close financing gaps without increasing tax rates on the address. With the wealthy firmly in crosshairs, consultants warn agents to ensure that their financial affairs are tightly tightly – or risk on the next side.