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HMRC has collected a record high of over £39bn from tax investigations in the year ending 31 December 2023, up 22% from £32bn in 2022, according to UHY Hacker Young.
The firm believes that HMRC has hit this record after stepping up its investigations into areas where it believes it is missing out on large amounts of unpaid tax.
This includes ultra-high net worth individuals suspected of underpaying tax; cryptocurrency traders not properly declaring their gains for tax purposes; residential landlords not declaring income properly; large multinational businesses being too aggressive with ‘transfer pricing’; and businesses claiming R&D tax relief that they aren’t entitled to.
Nikhil Oza, corporate tax partner at UHY Hacker Young, said: “HMRC is getting tougher and tracking down on unpaid tax across the board – and these figures show it’s working.
“Any business or individual with unpaid tax needs to be aware that their chances of getting away with it are lower than they’ve ever been. HMRC is deploying more technology, including AI, to catch them and the government is happy to fund more investigations.”
