The tax authority opened 114,000 (32%) fewer cases into possible tax evasion in 2020-21 than the previous year and paused many ongoing ones, leading to a loss of £9bn in tax.

Resolution of outstanding cases also dropped by nearly a third with 103,000 (29%) fewer cases closed over the year. In 2020-21 and 2021-22, HMRC concluded just 163 and 236 prosecutions respectively, compared with around 700 a year before the pandemic.