(Sept 22): The UK tax authority has assigned a personal compliance manager to every billionaire within its reach as it seeks to get a better grip on the super-rich’s tax liabilities.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has refreshed its population of billionaires to include all those with a UK tax footprint, not just those who file personal tax returns in the UK, a person briefed on the matter said. This follows recommendations from spending watchdog National Audit Office, which had released a report on wealthy individuals last year.

The move marks a significant shift in HMRC’s compliance strategy, after a cross-party parliamentary committee found just last year the authority had an incomplete grasp of billionaires’ financial affairs.

“We want to help all customers get their tax right, including the UK’s wealthiest people. We’ve had dedicated customer compliance managers for wealthy individuals for several years, allowing us to identify and address tax risks effectively,” an HMRC spokesperson said.

HMRC declined to provide the number of billionaires with a UK tax footprint it has identified and allocated a compliance manager to, saying it will publish those details in its wealthy compliance plan later this year.

“We are already seeing clients being contacted directly, as well as through their registered agents, with significant requests for information. Unsurprisingly, that is causing some concern,” said Charlie Sosna, head of private wealth and tax at Mishcon de Reya. “This looks to be part of a broader move towards greater scrutiny of the affairs of the very wealthy.”

The NAO had asked HMRC to review its definition of the wealthy population while considering whether greater segmentation of wealthy taxpayers could be possible. It also found that around half of the UK’s top 60 income taxpayers and top 50 capital gains taxpayers hadn’t been assigned a compliance manager, as allocation was based on risk rather than wealth alone.

HMRC has now identified the UK’s billionaire population who owe taxes in the country using a combination of HMRC data, information already in the public domain and information shared by other countries, a second person aware of the matter said.

Customer compliance managers will seek to map the relationship between individuals and their connected businesses, trusts and other entities as part of the push, the second person said.

Previously, HMRC had allocated compliance managers to wealthy individuals without specifically identifying or targeting billionaires as a distinct group. The tax authority had assigned a customer compliance manager to around 15,000 taxpayers, comprising 2% of the wealthy population.

The cross-party Public Accounts Committee had said in a report last year that HMRC could not tell how many billionaires pay tax in the UK. It asked HMRC to do more to “understand and explain the contribution that the very wealthiest in society make to tax revenue”.

HMRC told the committee it calculates taxes owed based on income and gains and does not have a mandate to collect data on individuals’ overall wealth.

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