Expression of Interest: Researching the drivers of tax compliance behaviour among the wealthy and ways to improve it

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) would like to invite research organisations to express an interest in tendering for a research study aimed at exploring the drivers of tax compliance behaviour among Wealthy individuals and investigating ways to improve it. Obtaining this evidence will help HMRC target its tax compliance strategy and maximise its revenue.

We anticipate that the research will have two stages: a pilot stage and a main stage, with a review point in the middle: • The aim of the pilot stage is to test out the key elements of the main study including the methodology (response and levels of engagement with participants; eliciting honest and meaningful responses from the participants); testing ideas to improve tax compliance among this group; and feasibility of expanding the pilot into a full scale research project. • The aim of the main stage of the research is to explore the factors that influence tax compliance behaviour among Wealthy individuals in depth, and to research effective means of improving it. The Wealthy group includes High Net Worth (HNW) and affluent individuals. The research aims to engage directly with both of them, or failing that, with their tax agents.

This is an increasingly important area of work for the department, and an opportunity to conduct innovative research that will feed into the development of new policies. We recognise that this group may be challenging to engage in compliance research but at the same time the project offers plenty of opportunities for trying new approaches; in addition, we have managed to successfully carry out research with other hard to reach populations in the past, and we could provide a sample of the wealthy population as a sampling frame.

EOIs will be evaluated on the following criteria: • Demonstrates knowledge and experience of successfully engaging hard to reach populations (such as wealthy individuals) directly in research; and • Demonstrates experience of conducting high-quality research with individuals on sensitive subjects (such as research related to financial decision making).

As this is an EOI stage only you are not expected to provide a detailed response. Submitted documents should not exceed 1000 words and should outline how you propose to meet the research requirement. If you have any queries regarding this research project please contact Dina Dimou ([email protected]).