Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many penalties HMRC issued to high net worth individuals in each year since 2009; and what was the total value of these penalties.

A new management system for high net worth individuals was introduced from 2011-12. HMRC do not have access to accurate data from management systems prior to that period.

From 2012-13 to 2015-16, the High Net Worth Unit issued nearly 850 penalties to high net worth individuals. These totalled £9 million, with an average value of around £10,000 per penalty. Further information can be found in the 2016 National Audit Office Report on “HMRC’s approach to collecting tax from high net worth individuals” at Part 3, paragraph 3.9, copied at point 3 in the Background note attached to this draft.

As of 3rd April 2017, HMRC have brought together their High Net Worth Unit and Affluent teams to form a single Wealthy team. This organisational change is promoting tax compliance and tackling non-compliance across the whole of the wealthy customer group. These changes will ensure we deploy our specialist, highly skilled resource on those wealthy individuals that present the highest compliance risk.