40th Report - Collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals

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.

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.

HMRC will publish its plan in Spring 2026 on how it will improve compliance by the wealthy population and set out timelines and outcomes for each objective, as part of its Transformation Roadmap published in July 2025.

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.

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.

HMRC will request more data on assets and wealth from those taxpayers it suspects have high or very high levels of wealth and provide a further update in Autumn 2026 on any progress made on acquiring additional data sets. HMRC will set out its progress on this to the Committee in Autumn 2026.

HMRC will continue to enhance its understanding of billionaires with a UK tax footprint and provide assurance that all billionaires with a UK tax footprint in the wealthy population have an allocated Customer Compliance Manager (CCM). CCMs are senior tax professionals who provide extra scrutiny of individuals who have complex tax affairs and support customers to get their tax right first time. Customers who are newly allocated a CCM in the next update will be informed by summer 2026. Assurance will be provided to the Committee that this has been completed by autumn 2026. It will also use various data sources to estimate the wealth of individuals and understand who the wealthiest individuals are for UK tax purposes.

HMRC will continue to enhance its understanding of billionaires with a UK tax footprint and provide assurance that all billionaires with a UK tax footprint in the wealthy population have an allocated Customer Compliance Manager (CCM). CCMs are senior tax professionals who provide extra scrutiny of individuals who have complex tax affairs and support customers to get their tax right first time. Customers who are newly allocated a CCM in the next update will be informed by summer 2026. Assurance will be provided to the Committee that this has been completed by autumn 2026. It will also use various data sources to estimate the wealth of individuals and understand who the wealthiest individuals are for UK tax purposes.

HMRC will undertake further analysis to enhance its understanding of how different levels of wealth and complexity impact risk in the wealthy population, with target implementation in Autumn 2026.

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.

HMRC will assess its use of powers to tackle non-compliance by the wealthy, in particular whether it makes sufficient use of available sanctions, and report back once the assessment has been completed. Target implementation date is Autumn 2026.

The government states the recommendation is implemented, with the First Permanent Secretary of HMRC having written to the Committee detailing steps to improve understanding of personal wealth and connected entities. HMRC also announced plans to enhance its approach to offshore tax non-compliance.

The government states the First Permanent Secretary of HMRC has written to the Committee outlining how investment plans aim to improve compliance outcomes. HMRC is currently designing how investment will be deployed and will provide more detailed plans to the Committee by Autumn 2026, building on the Transformation Roadmap published in Summer 2025.

The government has announced an ambition to increase positive charging decisions for harmful fraud by 20% to 600 per year by 2029-30, expecting a corresponding increase in criminal investigations of wealthy individuals. HMRC has already significantly increased investigations of wealthy individuals and clarifies that prosecution decisions rest with independent authorities.

The government agrees and states HMRC is scoping work to better understand and more accurately capture the contribution of wealthy individuals and their controlled entities to the overall tax gap. HMRC will write to the Committee in Autumn 2026 with an update on progress in improving the wealthy tax gap estimate.

The government committed to HMRC publishing its plan in spring 2026, detailing how it will improve compliance among wealthy individuals and setting out specific timelines and outcomes for each objective.