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HMRC to intensify offshore non-compliance and fraud investigations into wealthy taxpayers, boost staffing for 20% more decisions to lay charges, and target £500m by 2030 amid NAO findings

Published on: 10 July 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter
Legal News
Article summary

In a letter to Parliament dated 26 June 2025 and made public on 7 July 2025, HMRC said its projection follows a parliamentary consultation and a May 2025 National Audit Office (NAO) report that found the scale of tax avoidance and evasion among the wealthy could be far greater than the NAO had previously believed. HMRC will channel increased investment into bolstering offshore non-compliance inquiries, particularly suspected tax fraud by wealthy individuals, companies they control and other connected bodies. It also expects added headcount to deliver an overall 20% rise in decisions to bring charges against alleged tax cheats. The letter set out penalties imposed for offshore evasion and non-compliance since the 2018–19 tax year, totalling more than £125m. The overwhelming majority by volume (around 6,000 separate penalties) and by value (circa £38m) related to failures to file tax returns, HMRC said. HMRC also noted 41 prosecutions of those enabling tax avoidance schemes in that period, leading to roughly 200 penalties worth over £1.5m. This content is based on an article first published by Law360, a LexisNexis® company, on 8 July 2025 and is published with permission. Further information: www.law360.com/ (subscription required)...

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