Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 13
40th Report - Collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals
Published 16 Jul 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
HMRC highlighted that over 70% of the wealthy population has agents, and this increases to 90% for the wealthiest individuals.21 We asked HMRC about its plans to tackle unscrupulous tax agents. HMRC told us that its focus is on the behaviours of agents in general rather than necessarily specifically those with wealthy clients and referred to ongoing work to develop a risking model to look at agents and their behaviour.22 HRMC also told us it had recently combined its agent compliance team with its specialist team who tackle promoters of avoidance to “cross-fertilise” skills between the two. It explained that the combined teams had over the past four years “brought in over £3 billion between them in relation to that work”.23 HMRC’s assessment of strategic risks does not include explicit risks of noncompliance posed by tax agents despite the amount of tax at stake. 24 17 Qq 26, 36, 50 18 Q 49 19 C&AG’s Report, paras 3.6-3.7 20 Qq 18, 48 21 Q 63 22 Q 59 23 Q 59 24 C&AG’s Report, paras 14, 2.11 11 Tax paid by billionaires
From: Public Accounts Committee, 40th Report - Collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals (HC 827), 16 July 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fortieth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 16 September 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fourtieth report from Session 2024-26
Published 15 October 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it agrees with the Committee's recommendations, setting mostly Autumn 2026 target dates, while declining one specific proposal on penalty targets.
- On the plan to increase yield from wealthy taxpayers, the government agrees and HMRC "will publish its plan in spring 2026" with timelines and outcomes for each objective.
- On data about billionaires and wealth, the government agrees. HMRC will provide the Committee with assurance by autumn 2026 that identified billionaires with a UK tax footprint have an allocated Customer Compliance Manager.
- On penalties for enablers of tax evasion, the government agrees to the recommendation but HMRC "is not minded to set an annual target", because issuing penalties "is dependent on the behaviours shown by taxpayers and enablers in each specific case".
- On the wealthy tax gap, the government agrees, and HMRC "will write to the Committee in Autumn 2026" updating on progress in improving the estimate.