07 Mar 2022
The total revenue generated from HMRC's tax investigations increased to £30.8 billion during 2021, according to research by law firm Pinsent Masons.
The figure is up £1.2 billion from 2020 after HMRC had to suspend some of its investigation work for part of 2020 to focus on the administration of the coronavirus (COVID-19) support schemes.
In the past year, HMRC has collected £5.8 billion in cash from its tax investigations activity and prevented a further £11.2 billion in revenue from being lost.
Income from investigations into the 2,000 biggest businesses in the year to 31 March 2021 brought in £8.6 billion, which also accounted for 28% of HMRC's tax investigations yield last year.
The tax authority has also benefitted from an extra £6.4 billion by closing tax loopholes.
Steven Porter, Partner at Pinsent Masons, said: 'HMRC undertakes a huge programme of compliance activity every year. This ranges from property raids to social media monitoring to closing tax loopholes. In the past year HMRC has ramped up its activity even further as the lenience it showed during the pandemic comes to an end.
'HMRC has been investing in its compliance work significantly and is generating great returns as a result. This should act as a reminder to individuals and businesses that HMRC will not let up on its pursuit of recovering unpaid tax.'