The story, if accurate, suggests that UHNW individuals with UK tax obligations are not happy to go beyond what they think are legal requirements in disclosing all their financial and business affairs.

A media report says that some billionaires with UK tax obligations are pushing back against sweeping requests for information from authorities exploring their wealth and financial structures.

Letters sent by HM Revenue and Customs seeking detailed data on assets, investments and financial structures raise worries whether these requests are legal, and raise fears about costs, Bloomberg reported.

The UK tax authority sent letters to all billionaires with a UK tax footprint this summer, appointing a so-called customer compliance manager to each billionaire. In 2025, a cross-party Parliamentary committee found that the tax authority had an incomplete grasp of billionaires’ financial affairs.

Bloomberg Tax said it has seen extracts of these letters. They show that HMRC wants to build a comprehensive picture of billionaires’ financial lives, spanning business interests and investments to wider structures holding their wealth. HMRC has also reached out to seek meetings with some billionaires before they file their tax returns, the report said. 

The story comes at a time when the current Labour government’s tax increases and policies have encouraged some wealthy individuals, such as hedge fund manager Chris Rokos, to leave the UK. These departures fuel worries that the UK’s tax base is eroding and will reduce, not boost, tax revenues. At the heart of this point is the so-called “Laffer Curve” effect: higher taxes, beyond a certain point, can be self-defeating. The issue is politically sensitive because advocates of tax increases claim they are needed to achieve a fairer distribution of wealth.

Advisors and lawyers quoted by the news service said clients are sometimes responding politely to information requests, but others are declining to do so.