City law firm McGrigors has undertaken research showing that HMRC collected £373 million from investigations into wealthy taxpayers in the last financial year, a 21 per cent rise on the previous year and a 360 per cent increase over five years. HMRC established a specialist HNW unit in April 2009 to focus specifically in the field.
This news comes on the back of a failed attempt by UK-born businessman Robert Gaines-Cooper, to win a judicial review of a major dispute with the UK tax authorities. HMRC refused to accept he had really left the country when he moved to the Seychelles in 1976. The case further illustrates the risks run by tax exiles who nevertheless keep some links with their home nation.