Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Accepted
HMRC identified opportunities to improve wealthy team effectiveness through enhanced data exchange and global collaboration.
Recommendation
HMRC told us that it wants to ensure that its wealthy team has the enablers and capabilities it needs to be more effective and productive in its work. It said that it is a constant endeavour for it to collect more tax from wealthy individuals because those who deliberately try to evade tax will continue to do so. HMRC told us about the significant opportunities it has identified relating to data exchange, targeting and risking, collaborating globally with other tax jurisdictions, and policy changes that will help it close the tax gap.11 HMRC explained the importance of working with other international tax jurisdictions to increase the exchange of data so that there are fewer places for people to hide their assets. It told us how more data helps it to find out about big offshore balances or companies that are not reporting their income, and that it can use its investigative experts to go after this money.12
Government Response Summary
HMRC will set out what investments will help improve a range of compliance outcomes for the wealthy customer population by Autumn 2026, after further design work on how the investment it has received through the Spending Review will be deployed. At Spring Statement 2025, the government announced plans to tackle offshore tax non‑compliance by the wealthy. The government published its Transformation Roadmap in Summer 2025 which sets out how HMRC will use investment to improve performance.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Autumn 2026 4.2 At Spring Statement 2025, the government announced plans to tackle offshore tax non‑compliance by the wealthy. The government published its Transformation Roadmap in Summer 2025 which sets out how HMRC will use investment to improve performance. The First Permanent Secretary of HMRC has written to the Committee setting out how HMRC’s investment plans are intended to improve compliance outcomes overall. 4.3 HMRC is currently designing how the investment it has received through the Spending Review will be deployed. Following further design work, HMRC will set out what investments will help improve a range of compliance outcomes for the wealthy customer population. The department will set this out in more detail to the Committee by Autumn 2026.