Biggest deliberate tax defaulters in country shown on map – they own over £1bn
We look back on 10 years of naming and shaming by HMRC to reveal the jobs and locations of more than 4,000 people and businesses penalised by the taxman
More than 4,000 of the UK's biggest 4,000 tax defaulters have faced demands for over £1.5bn from HM Revenue and Customs.
The Government has been naming and shaming 'deliberate tax defaulters' since 2015 and the Mirror has brought together the list for the first time. More than one in five - 21% of those named - are in hospitality, such as takeaways, restaurants, pubs, bars and cafes. Nearly as many - 19% - work in construction or trades like plumbing or plastering.
Mike Lewis, Director of investigative think-tank TaxWatch, said: "£1.5bn is a serious amount of money - that's roughly the cost of an NHS dentist appointment for everyone in Britain. But it could be the tip of an iceberg. Many deliberate defaulter penalties focus on tax due on domestic income. Some of the largest tax evaders, particularly those with income and assets offshore, will have taxable income that HMRC may not even know about."
HMRC has been regularly publishing the names and addresses of those who deliberately default on tax of more than £25,000 since 2015. These are people or firms who received penalties for 'deliberate errors in their tax returns' or 'deliberately failing to comply with their tax obligations'.
But tax defaulters can avoid the list if they 'fully disclose details of the defaults' to the taxman. The naming and shaming happens only 'once these penalties are final'. Some of the biggest defaulters - five out of the top 10 - are recruitment or payroll firms which owed £145m in tax and penalties. We found 112 tax defaulters working in haulage, freight or HGV driving who owed £33.5m.
Two adult entertainment businesses owed £783,000 while four barristers owed £523,000. A number of the biggest tax defaulters are involved in metals - such as scrap or recycling. There are ten in Yorkshire alone which have been named as liable for £60.4m in tax and penalties.
We looked by postcode area and E6 in East London had the highest number with 42 cases totalling £7.8m. Most of those were involved in the building trade. In all, 15 of the 20 postcode areas with the most tax defaulters are from the London area. The highest number of cases in a postcode area outside London is LE5, in Leicester, where there are 18 cases totalling £3.2m. Nearly half appear to be linked to the city's fast fashion industry.
There are 46 companies from China on the list and another eight from Hong Kong. The five biggest defaulters were all online retailers who owed HMRC £34.6m. But there are likely to be more Chinese-linked firms using UK addresses. The next biggest group was 38 cases from Poland, including five hauliers who owed £16.9m to HMRC.
An HMRC spokesperson said: "We use a range of tools to take firm action against the minority who refuse to pay the tax they owe. This includes publishing the names of those penalised for deliberate defaults to influence taxpayer behaviour and encourage defaulters to engage with HMRC."
They added that the list only includes those penalised under civil procedures and does not include criminal convictions for tax fraud. Some of the money owed may have been paid back and HMRC says the list 'does not necessarily represent the full default of the taxpayer'.
The biggest tax defaulter named is a recruitment firm from Derby, Simplify Contracting Services Limited, which went bust two years ago owing £60.6m to the taxman. The liquidator is investigating millions sent to a company run by a struck off solicitor. Second is a payroll firm Work Legal E Ltd, from Edinburgh, which was first exposed by the Mirror and owes £42.2m in tax and penalties.
Third is scrap metal dealer JKL (Wakefield) Ltd from Osset, West Yorkshire, which owed £39m to the taxman, but only £2.1m was recovered by the firm's liquidator. Other firms on the list include a mysterious 'hologram technology ' firm called Silvermask Limited, which was set up by 42-year-old Australian Ronald Ryan in August 2020 and immediately racked up an unpaid £16.6m tax bill in just four months. HMRC imposed extra penalties of £16.1m, bringing the total to £32.7m.
Tenth on the list is property developer Hasan Nawaz Sharif, son of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, who was named by HMRC in March as owing £9.4m in tax and £5.3m in penalties. The total - £14.6m - is the highest owed by an individual but he disputes the claims.
Mike Lewis added: "These name and shame lists look impressive, but they're missing the professionals that may know about or collude in their clients' tax cheating. HMRC has the power to fine and name tax advisers who deliberately conceal documents, or provide misleading information about their clients' affairs. Yet between 2020 and 2024 we found that HMRC started substantive investigations against fewer than five dishonest tax advisers in each year, and at the moment it doesn't publish the names of any tax advisers fined for dishonesty."
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