Payments to whistleblowers increase in the past year

HMRC has paid out over £509 000 to individuals providing evidence about tax fraud in 2022-23 up from £495 000 in 2021-22 and up 75% from the £290 000 paid five years ago according to research by City law firm RPC.

However these payments are small given the size of the UK tax gap and the exchequer could benefit from adopting the US approach of offering far more generous awards to those who provide information about tax evaders says RPC.

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) pays whistleblowers 15% to 30% of the additional tax collected through investigations instigated as a consequence of information received. In 2022 it paid $37.8m to 132 whistleblowers - 58 times the amount paid to UK whistleblowers. In the same period the IRS received 5 084 submissions and 12 597 claims for reward (IRS...