Source: United Kingdom UK Parliament (video statements)
How can HMRC ensure wealthy individuals pay their taxes?
The population of wealthy individuals that HMRC administers has grown from 700,000 in 2019-20 to 850,000 in 2023-24. HMRC defines wealthy individuals as those earning more than £200,000 a year, or with assets over £2 million, in any of the last three years. The National Audit Office (NAO) found in May 2025 that additional revenue secured by HMRC from wealthy individuals has more than doubled – from £2.2bn (2019-20) to £5.2bn (2023-24).
The scale of this rise raises questions about whether non-compliance amongst wealthy individuals may not be far higher than HMRC has detected. Wealthy taxpayers have also faced fewer penalties in recent years – down to 456 penalties totalling £5.8m in 2023-24, from 2,153 totalling £16.2m in 2018-19.
The PAC will hear from senior officials at HMRC as part of its inquiry, including John-Paul Marks CB, HMRC’s Permanent Secretary, in his first appearance before the Committee in his new role. Committee members are likely to explore whether enough is being done to bring in tax revenue from billionaires and the super-rich, as well as what impact changes to the regime for non-doms (non-domiciled residents)will have on its compliance work.
Other likely topics include whether there is enough transparency about the amount of tax the wealthy pay. The PAC warned in 2017 that a lack of transparency would leave HMRC open to the perception that, in its dealings with taxpayers, there is one rule for the rich and another for everyone else. The session is also likely to see an exploration of HMRC’s understanding of the risks of non-compliance associated with wealthy individuals – HMRC has identified the net loss in tax revenue from key risks amongst this cohort increasing 21% between 2020-21 and 2022-23.
The session will also see questions around the recent disclosure to the Treasury Committee of a phishing attack costing the taxpayer approx.£497m and affecting approx.100,000 taxpayers. Members are likely to seek further details as to the nature of the attack, and why HMRC did not report it sooner.
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