Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
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 ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
HMRC told us that the investment it secured as part of its recent funding settlement will help improve its data and understanding of the risks and better target its compliance activity so that, when it opens a case, it has 34 Q 87 35 C&AG’s Report, paras 3.10, 3.15-3.16 36 Qq 93, 104 14 a higher likelihood of securing the yield.37 It plans to bring in more wealth management experts to help the wealthy team’s understanding of wealth planning. It said it will also invest in its case management system and digitise the Inheritance Tax regime, which will help case workers to access data in a more timely and effective way. HMRC said it also plans to invest in artificial intelligence (AI), which it already uses in some way in the form of predictive analytics and machine learning. It said that AI presents a significant opportunity to improve productivity, through improved targeting and risking and optimising digital capabilities, which HMRC would expect to realise.38 Compliance investigations
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.