The number of convictions of high earners with earnings over £200,000 has nearly halved since before the pandemic, revealed an investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and TaxWatch, following a number of Freedom of Information requests into the number of HMRC convictions in 2022-23.

HMRC classes a person as wealthy if they earn more than £200,000 a year or have assets worth over £2m.

The number of total HMRC prosecutions for tax evasion has slumped in the last five years from nearly 900 in 2017-18 down to just over 200 in the last tax year.

Fewer than 100 of the richest individuals have been taken to court for tax evasion over this five-year period.