HMRC is chasing £1.9bn of unpaid taxes from the UK’s richest people, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO).

The tax office’s specialist unit recovered £416m in 2015 from 6,500 “high net worth individuals” with a wealth of more than £20m, NAO said.

However, work is ongoing to recover about £1.9bn, which is still missing and potentially owed by a group of about 6,500 individuals.

This official is responsible for “building an understanding of each taxpayer’s affairs and behaviours” and to liaise with their tax agent on the amount they owe.

This was because the people in question often have complex tax affairs involving different countries.

The £416m recovered by HMRC was in addition to the £4.3bn in tax the wealthy already declared in 2014-15.

Tax Avoidance

NAO said the £1.9bn figure of tax that was “at risk” of not being received, was a current estimate. Not all of it may be owed once each case has been examined in detail, it added.

The body said the figure covered some cases that have been open for many years.

NAO said about £1.1bn of the missing money related to tax avoidance schemes that are marketed at wealthy investors.

According to the NAO, HMRC is also criminally investigating 10 high net worth individuals about illegal offshore tax evasion, although just one has been prosecuted since 2010.

HMRC is aiming to increase the number of prosecutions to 100 by 2020, the BBC wrote. http://bbc.in/2eVUAmc

The NAO criticised HMRC for not looking at “what works and why” in its current approach, saying this could make it more effective.