Windsor tops table of UK tax avoidance hotspots

TOWNS in the stockbroker belt of the home counties have the biggest concentration of people admitting tax avoidance, with Windsor top of the list, a new study has suggested.

In Windsor there were 23 disclosures to HMRC of unpaid tax per 100,000 population last year, compared with the UK average of seven, said accountancy group UHY Hacker Young.

St Albans, with 20 disclosures per 100,000 population, was second, followed by Guildford and Tunbridge Wells, said the report.

UHY Hacker Young said individuals have become increasingly likely to admit tax avoidance to escape harsh penalties.

Other prosperous cities with high concentrations of high earners, such as Oxford, Cambridge and Reading, also feature in the list of top locations with most unpaid tax admissions.

Sean Glancy, of UHY Hacker Young, said: “The stockbroker belt is littered with tax avoidance hotspots.

“The home counties are home to many high net worth individuals and well- paid City commuters. These are the groups most likely to have the highest income tax bills – leading to greater incentives to find ways to reduce payments.”

Other areas in the top 10 were London, Aberdeen and Redhill.

An HMRC spokesman said: “Most tax avoidance schemes simply do not work and those who engage in them can find that they pay more than the tax they attempted to avoid once HMRC has successfully challenged them.

“If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.”