Postby RMC » Sun Mar 11, 2018 10:21 am
HMRC operate a powerful snooper system ‘Connect’ that gathers UK taxpayers’ (and non-taxpayers) financial data including that held by banks and financial organizations in British overseas territories and various other places, and flags individuals or entities in need of an investigation. According to reports it (and other systems) also accesses our digital footprint on the internet.
But the flagged individuals do not necessarily get investigated, apparently because HMRC suffers staff shortages, in fact there has never been a better time to fiddle one’s taxes. The superrich have a particularly good chance of avoiding tax because 1. political parties depend on their goodwill and 2. they argue and argue in courts draining HMRC meagre resources.
Whereas benefits cheats are as a rule caught by benefit fraud investigators, HMRC depend to a great extent on voluntary disclosure. There have been various disclosure facilities – physical therapy, alternative medicine, let property ... the latest being worldwide disclosure facility, but you can disclose anything in return for being treated leniently:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-your-guide-to-making-a-disclosure
So the answer to your question is Yes and No.