Overview

• The PAC report confirms that HMRC cannot say how many UK billionaires pay tax or the total amount they contribute.
• MPs have urged HMRC to segment its wealthy customers by wealth band and use AI tools and public rich-list data to improve risk assessment.
• HMRC’s wealthy compliance unit of about 1,000 staff will expand by 400 new roles funded in the 2024-25 spending review.
• Despite compliance yield from wealthy taxpayers more than doubling to £5.2 billion in 2023-24, the PAC judges HMRC’s £1.9 billion wealthy tax-gap estimate and £0.3 billion offshore figure to be too low.
• The watchdog’s demands for a clear strategy feed into ongoing discussions over digital reforms and potential new levies on the ultra-rich.