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HMRC’s annual report has revealed that its investigations into tax evasion and tax avoidance have yielded a total of £34bn in extra tax revenue over the last year, up from £30.8bn the year before.
According to law firm Pinsent Masons, £2.7bn of that total came from income tax investigations into wealthy individuals.
HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, which deals with the most serious tax fraud, were responsible for £4bn from their investigations, with their work leading to 218 convictions for fraud over the last year.
Steven Porter, head of Tax Disputes and Investigations at Pinsent Masons, said the total result was “remarkable” result, but suggested the authority was actually targeting £36bn.
He added that having added 4,000 compliance officers since 2020-21, HMRC is “setting itself up for an extremely busy year”.
He said: “HMRC’s role in bringing in extra tax through investigations is incredibly valuable, especially now that the cost of Government borrowing has increased so considerably. HMRC is going to be casting its net very widely over the next year.”
