Ask an expert: HMRC’s Affluent Unit

Question

I've heard that HMRC has set up an ‘Affluent Unit’ – how does this operate and how does it differ from the High Net Worth Unit (HNWU)? Also what do you see as the benefits for advisers and our clients of being part of the HNWU?

Answer

The Affluent Unit is part of HMRC's compliance strategy. The strategy has a number of different components including:

• cyber crime teams: comprising technical experts intelligence analysts and criminal investigators who use specialist forensic tools to gather intelligence against cyber criminals;
• taskforces: comprising specialist teams focused on sectors perceived by HMRC to be high risk;
• Affluent Unit (also called affluence teams): comprising 200 staff ...