Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cases referred to prosecuting authorities by HMRC on serious and complex tax crime by wealthy individuals have concluded with a criminal conviction since 2010.

HMRC does not hold comprehensive records of criminal convictions of wealthy individuals prior to 2015. The number of wealthy individuals that have received a criminal conviction for serious and complex tax crime since 2015 is 27.

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

HMRC is committed to ensuring all individuals, including the wealthy, pay the correct tax when it’s due, and pursues those who fail to meet their tax obligations. HMRC’s dedicated Wealthy Unit works closely with teams across HMRC to tackle all forms of non-compliance effectively. Where there is evidence of criminality, HMRC will not hesitate to investigate those involved with a view to prosecution.

HMRC has a strong track record of tackling those who have evaded their responsibilities, or those who have facilitated tax evasion, and is successful in over 90% of prosecutions.

HMRC is not itself a prosecuting authority. All prosecutions have to be authorised by the relevant independent prosecuting authority, which for England and Wales would be the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS); for Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS); and for NI, the Public Prosecution Service for NI (PPSNI).