HMRC Assigns Compliance Managers to UK Billionaires, Crypto Data Set to Arrive by 2027

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has assigned a personal compliance manager to every billionaire it can associate with the United Kingdom. The list now extends beyond individuals who file a British tax return, although HMRC has not disclosed the total number of names.

Scope of the Billionaire Compliance Programme

The National Audit Office reported that HMRC previously assigned compliance managers to about 15,000 wealthy taxpayers, roughly 2% of that group, based on risk assessment rather than wealth alone. The Public Accounts Committee noted that HMRC cannot determine the total tax paid by UK billionaires despite the small number of individuals involved.

How the List Is Built

HMRC reconstructed the billionaire list using its own records, publicly available rich‑list data, and information shared by other governments. Each compliance manager maps a single individual to related companies, trusts and other entities.

Crypto Assets and Future Reporting

Crypto wealth is not currently a specific target of the programme, but the upcoming Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, which took effect in the UK in January, will require trading platforms to provide customer records to tax authorities. This data will begin flowing to HMRC in 2027.

Government data shows that 17,600 people declared £1.38 billion in crypto‑asset gains for the 2024‑25 tax year, with 240 crypto millionaires accounting for £717 million of that total. HMRC also issued 65,000 warning letters to suspected crypto traders that year, up from 27,700 previously.

Next Steps

A wealthy‑compliance plan due before the end of 2026 will make the size of the billionaire list public. Exchange data under the new reporting framework will follow a year later.