HMRC has secured an extra £2.7bn for the government’s coffers by clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion in the last year, its annual accounts have shown.

When the extra is accounted for, the tax office clawed back a total to £26.6bn in 2014-15, up from £23.9bn the previous year.

Tax evasion as, opposed to avoidance, is a criminal activity and criminal sanctions are available against those who facilitate or encourage tax evasion.

The Chancellor pledged in his March Budget the government will clamp down harder on tax avoidance and plans to introduce new measures to collect an extra £3.1bn from those found to have avoided or evaded tax payments.

Last year marked the first time HMRC used its new accelerated payments notices, which ask users of what the tax office deems are tax avoidance schemes to make up-front payments of the tax owed or face a fine.

The regime brought in £768m of revenue in the year.

The biggest amount identified as lost tax by HMRC, £9.8bn, came from past avoidance, however HMRC said it may not be able to collect all of the cash as some firms may have gone out of business in the meantime.

About £8bn is due from revenue the tax office protected from being lost, for instance by stopping fraud, while a further £6.7bn was attributed to ‘future revenue benefit’ taking into account the impact of compliance intervention on consumer behaviour.

HMRC thinks £1.3bn will come as a result of legislative changes made in the government’s 2010 Spending Review period that closed some tax loopholes.

Clamping down

The tax office introduced a range of new measures to clampdown on tax avoidance in the past few years, including the establishment of a ‘rising star’ unit in 2012.

Clamping down on suspected tax avoidance among taxpayers with rapidly rising wealth has netted HMRC an extra £11.5m since 2012, according to calculations.

The team focuses on the tax affairs of individuals with rapidly growing incomes and a net worth of at least £15m, which are likely to include those rising through the ranks at financial services companies, law firm Pinsent Masons said.

The unit also targeted anyone considered to have the potential to meet the £20m wealth criteria for the high net worth unit within the next five years.

Pinsent Masons also warned advisers could face criminal charges under new powers for HMRC following the March Budget if they fail to prevent tax evasion by inherited clients.