In 2023-24, there were 850,000 wealthy individuals in the UK paying personal taxes. Wealthy taxpayers are defined by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), who have a specific team to look into their tax affairs, as people who, in any of the last three years, have incomes of £200,000 or more, or assets at or above £2m. A higher risk of error may be presented by wealthy taxpayers, due to the larger amounts involved with the potential for more complex financial affairs.
The PAC reported on collecting tax from high net worth individuals in 2016. The Committee at the time expressed alarm that HMRC had around one third of these individuals under enquiry at any one time, and in 2015–16 was investigating cases with a value of around £1.9bn extra tax revenue that might be due. It further found that the amount of tax paid by this very wealthy group of individuals had fallen by £1bn since HMRC set up its unit to focus specifically on their tax affairs.
The National Audit Office’s (NAO) 2025 report on collecting the right tax from wealthy individuals looked at areas including whether HMRC is effective at encouraging compliance and tackling non-compliance amongst this group. Based on the NAO’s report, the PAC will hear from senior HMRC officials on subjects including on whether this cohort are paying the correct amount of tax, and HMRC’s arrangements to improve compliance.
Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere.
Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues.