HM Revenue and Customs is assigning a dedicated customer compliance manager to each of more than 200 billionaires with UK tax obligations, the Guardian reported on Wednesday. The authority has compiled its first list of billionaires required to pay tax in the UK, regardless of formal residence, as part of a crackdown meant to raise £500m for the public purse.
The managers will offer voluntary discussions with each billionaire before they file their taxes, HMRC said in an announcement following Wednesday's budget. The authority said billionaires present particular challenges, with affairs often spanning multiple taxes, entities and jurisdictions. The discussions aim to build a shared understanding of UK tax affairs and make subsequent engagement more focused and proportionate.
HMRC also plans to deploy advanced analytics, automated triggers and artificial intelligence to monitor wealthy individuals, defined as those with income above £200,000 or assets over £2m in any of the last three years. The technology will identify emerging risks earlier and target compliance activity where it will have greatest impact, the authority said.
The wealthy tax gap for 2024-25 was estimated at £3.6bn, equivalent to 6% of the total tax gap across the UK's entire tax-paying population. The gap represents the difference between what wealthy individuals pay and what they would owe if all assets were disclosed to the tax authority.
HMRC told MPs on the parliamentary public accounts committee in July last year that it lacked understanding of tax compliance by about 1.3 million wealthy taxpayers. Adam Craggs, head of tax, investigations and financial crime at law firm RPC, said anyone with more than £200,000 of annual income or net assets above £2m should now reflect on how clearly they understand and can evidence their UK tax position and their interaction with HMRC.
Why it matters for wealth
The deployment of AI monitoring and dedicated managers signals a shift in how HMRC approaches high-net-worth compliance. Individuals meeting the £200,000 income or £2m asset threshold may face earlier intervention and closer scrutiny of cross-border structures.
The tax authority said its actions would contribute at least £500m towards a larger commitment to raise £10bn of additional tax revenues by 2030.
Source: The Guardian
Read next: Non-Dom Tax UK: What Wealthy Residents Need to Know in 2025
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