Customer compliance: our approach to tax compliance for wealthy individuals and mid-sized businesses
Updated 24 November 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021/customer-compliance-our-approach-to-tax-compliance-for-wealthy-individuals-and-mid-sized-businesses
Compliance yield for the Wealthy and Mid-Sized Business Compliance (WMBC) Directorate in financial year 2020 to 2021
The following tables show the compliance yield generated by the Wealthy and Mid-Sized Business Compliance Directorate during 2020 to 2021. The head of duty compliance yield is reported on the same basis as the Annual Report and Accounts.
Wealthy and Mid-sized Business Compliance Directorate
| Tax regime | 2020-21(£m) |
|---|---|
| Corporation Tax | 547 |
| Excise | - |
| Income Tax | 2,047 |
| VAT | 1,863 |
| Other compliance interventions | 697 |
| Total | 5,154 |
HMRC’s approach to tax compliance for wealthy individuals and mid-sized businesses
HMRC’s Wealthy and Mid-sized Business Compliance (WMBC) Directorate aim to put compliance and customer service at the heart of everything we do by taking a ‘customer segment’ approach, focusing on customers rather than different types of tax, so we can target and coordinate our responses more effectively.
We focus on wealthy individuals, mid-sized businesses as well as public bodies and employment status and intermediaries, providing insight into the wealthy population, their tax affairs and the businesses they own or influence.
We also have a key part to play in promoting and supporting the growth that mid-sized businesses bring to the UK economy. This is part of HMRC’s wider work to promote growth and minimise cost to business while maximising compliance.
The government has provided extra investment in Summer Budget 2015 to support our work in maximising compliance from our customer groups. Our approach is to increase voluntary compliance among these groups using approaches which promote compliance and prevent non-compliance and challenge those who break the rules.
In 2020 to 2021, WMBC achieved compliance yield of £5.15 billion as shown in the table above.
Tax under consideration
Tax under consideration is an estimate of the maximum potential additional tax liability in each case before we have carried out a full investigation of the specific facts or analysis of relevant law. It is not actual tax either owed or unpaid, it is a tool to guide our enquiries to focus on the most significant risks that exist at any particular time.
In many cases, when we have looked at the full facts, it becomes clear that there is some lesser liability or even no further liability at all. Tax under consideration will naturally vary from time to time as outstanding issues are settled and new risks are identified.
The total is a snapshot of work in progress at a given point. Tax under consideration covers all taxes and duties, including Income Tax, Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE and National lnsurance Contributions and Inheritance Tax. WMBC will now be publishing tax under consideration annually. In addition to the year this annual report relates to, we are also publishing the tax under consideration for the previous year.
A snapshot, as at 31 March 2020 and at 31 March 2021, of the tax under consideration figure for enquiries by HMRC’s WMBC Directorate is shown in the following table.
| Inaccuracy category | Tax under consideration 2019-20 | Tax under consideration 2020-21 |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting standards | £18,963,633 | £19,656,894 |
| Amended returns | £6,849,785 | £1,749,331 |
| Apprenticeship Levy | £2,903,454 | £3,746,108 |
| Assessment - NICS | £1,473,743 | - |
| Avoidance | £1,770,588,588 | £1,064,146,564 |
| Capital allowances | £68,435,821 | £59,912,320 |
| Capital Gains | £292,867,530 | £752,255,590 |
| Charities | £24,658,762 | £20,689,367 |
| Claims outside returns | £118,956,787 | £122,310,542 |
| Company structure | £106,648,037 | £296,838,520 |
| Consideration | £10,117,871 | £13,110,194 |
| Corporation Tax Capital Gains | £102,981,364 | £105,694,177 |
| Covid schemes | - | £1,997,600 |
| Creative industry and cultural reliefs | - | £773,745 |
| Crypto assets | £141,500 | £427,842 |
| Earnings | £42,684,497 | £34,706,203 |
| Employment issues | £616,535,882 | £711,466,990 |
| EU issues | £5,014,918 | £3,474,268 |
| Expenses | £252,279,894 | £293,146,789 |
| Failure to notify and late returns | £25,141,821 | £49,646,231 |
| Financial | £74,335,756 | £76,320,358 |
| General income | £100,666,008 | £139,770,790 |
| Group litigation order | £113,944 | £49,427 |
| High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge | £1,102,226 | £273,739 |
| Income and expenses | £111,332,340 | £152,811,237 |
| Inheritance Tax | £246,542,673 | £353,011,237 |
| Input tax overclaimed | £154,448,282 | £262,691,172 |
| Intangible asset regime | £54,091,344 | £76,176,848 |
| International | £541,582,006 | £843,985,385 |
| Investment income | £84,503,314 | £171,380,877 |
| Land and property | £138,202,972 | £126,336,367 |
| Loss relief | £48,161,288 | £53,070,720 |
| Management expenses | £1,887,183 | £2,172,615 |
| Other issues | £69,114,747 | £157,249,404 |
| Output tax underdeclared | £350,851,354 | £386,461,134 |
| Partial exemption | £19,823,973 | £77,168,069 |
| Partnership issues | £150,266,906 | £126,779,167 |
| Pension schemes | £168,576,454 | £175,500,125 |
| Pre return work | £1,762,328 | £4,664,625 |
| PSA/dispensation | £4,855,022 | £10,389,481 |
| Research and Development claims | £55,003,386 | £134,993,890 |
| Stamp Duty | £55,974,120 | £60,982,407 |
| Statutory allowances/reliefs | £204,105,898 | £251,168,311 |
| Trading and computations - receipts and deductions | £142,076,574 | £173,821,146 |
| Transfer pricing and thin capitalisation | £246,309,664 | £343,842,188 |
| Trusts | £96,948,697 | £48,277,171 |
| Valuation | £90,718,918 | £113,147,102 |
| VAT – other | £34,490,503 | £4,364,294 |
| VAT scheme arrangements | £3,013,552 | £86,816 |
| Venture capitals | £427,326,962 | £351,268,678 |
| Voluntary disclosure | £5,577,638 | £6,935,477 |
| Total | £7,151,009,919 | £8,240,899,532 |
Note: Figures that could risk identifying entities have been aggregated and provided as ‘other issues’ within the table.