HM Revenue and Customs, the UK tax authority, has published the names and photographs of the most serious tax dodgers last year in a campaign to humiliate such people in a crackdown on tax evasion.

A total of 32 offenders have been sentenced to a total of 155 years and 10 months in custody, according to a statement from HMRC today.

“Most people play by the rules and pay what they owe, but HMRC is cracking down on those who don’t,” David Gauke, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said.

"We hope that publishing these pictures will help get across that it always makes sense to declare all your income, and tax dodgers are simply storing up trouble for the future,” he said.

To view a gallery of such individuals, click here.

The UK government has devoted funds to going after tax evaders and certain forms of aggressive tax avoidance schemes. Like other Western governments, the UK is seeking to stem what it sees as losses of revenues at a time of large budget deficits.

In December last year, HMRC warned hundreds of people in the UK who have Swiss bank accounts that they are getting a “last chance” to pay any tax due or face investigation. In some circumstances, such people could pay penalties of up to 150 per cent of the actual tax owed.