Wealthy taxpayers have paid up £500m since 2009
HMRC’s high net worth unit has brought in £500m in extra tax since its launch three years ago, around £200m than expected, according to department officials.
The unit was set up in 2009 to deal with the personal tax affairs of about 5,000 of the UK’s richest people: those with assets in excess of £20 million. It consists of 380 staff working out of eight locations across the country.
Its head, Martin Randall, said he and his colleagues had expected to generate about £100m annually, but the the yield from intervention work in 2011/12 alone hit £200m, up from £162m in the previous tax year and £83m in 2009/10. So far, £55m has been collected in the current year.
