Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Accepted
HMRC lacks specific focus and risk assessment for the very wealthiest individuals despite their heightened risk.
Recommendation
Around 29,000 wealthy individuals had incomes of at least £1 million in 2023–24 and were liable for around £34 billion of Income Tax in total. Within this population are taxpayers with very high incomes and wealth: around 10,000 taxpayers have annual incomes of at least £2 million, and 5,000 have assets of at least £50 million. The complexity and mobility of the very wealthiest means they carry a heightened risk, but HMRC has no particular focus on this group, and has not assessed the level of risk or the impact of its compliance activities for different income or wealth bands to understand whether it should particularly focus on the wealthiest individuals.15
Government Response Summary
HMRC will undertake further analysis to enhance its understanding of how different levels of wealth and complexity impact risk in the wealthy population, to improve its identification and targeting of risk. Target implementation date: Autumn 2026.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2a. PAC recommendation: As part of its plan for increasing yield from wealthy taxpayers domestically and offshore, HMRC should review whether segmenting its wealthy customer group according to different levels of wealth and complexity would help it to assess and then target the most significant risks. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target Implementation date: Autumn 2026 2.2 The government notes the Committee’s conclusion. HMRC currently segments the wealthy population using a range of risk factors including estimated wealth and complexity. 2.3 HMRC will undertake further analysis to enhance its understanding of how different levels of wealth and complexity impact risk in this population and so improve its identification and targeting of risk.