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@ISIDEWITHQuestionsEconomy11yrs ago

Should the government prosecute people who avoid paying taxes by hiding money in foreign bank accounts?

A former employee of HSBC recently leaked data that revealed 106,000 of the bank’s clients in Switzerland held secret accounts with the bank for the sole purpose of avoiding taxes. The leak revealed that the clients came from over 200 countries and were hiding over $118 billion dollars in the accounts. The data also revealed that HM Revenue and Customs failed to prosecute citizens who they knew were liable for unpaid taxes. Proponents of prosecution believe the government should take a more active role in monitoring people’s taxes and those caught evading taxes should be subject to stiff fines or jail time. Opponents believe that the people who evaded taxes were not breaking any laws since their funds were stored in Swiss bank accounts.

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 1.2m UK voters.

87%
Yes
13%
No
81%
Yes
7%
No
4%
Yes, we should strongly disincentivise those who move money out of the country
6%
No, only in cases of evading not avoidance
2%
Yes, and fine them double the amount they avoided paying

Historical Support

Trend of support over time for each answer from 1.2m UK voters.

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Historical Importance

Trend of how important this issue is for 1.2m UK voters.

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from UK voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @B7MNWKB  from Maine  answered…9mos9MO

Is 'evading' and 'avoiding' not the same thing? in terms of financial prosecution would it not be better to implement a minimum 10% additional taxes on top of the originally avoided taxes owed as a form of punishment?

 @92M28HDanswered…4yrs4Y

No, the system should be reformed to prevent the ability to do so rather than trying to chase after the fact - that’s just a road to massive wastes of time & resources

 @BCWQ5YVanswered…2mos2MO

Punish without foreign interference.

 @B6295BPanswered…12mos12MO

depends what they’re using the money for. should only be a problem if they’re using the money for evil purposes. basically, not regulated but would be taken away from offenders in a criminal case

 @9PZ2RJCanswered…2yrs2Y

No. Those of us that work hard get taxed enough. Stop penalising people with money to give it to those that can’t be bothered earning their own.

 @9JFLZDVanswered…2yrs2Y

Only if the money is “hidden”, if the individual reports all money held overseas it should not be taxed.

 @97ZSBF9answered…4yrs4Y

Yes, and work with the EU and US to crack down on this internationally

 @92HS22Danswered…4yrs4Y

No, only in cases of evasion not avoidance, but government should actively seek to close down avoidance loopholes

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Active 2mos ago

 @ISIDEWITHDiscuss this answer...…6yrs6Y

Should critical race theory be taught in K-12 education?

No

▲  19.8k6 replies4 agree1 disagree

About This Data

Based on 1.2m responses to this question.

These results come from iSideWith's ongoing political issues survey. We collect over a million responses per day, filter out duplicate and multiple submissions, and break the results down by political party, ideology, age, state, and census demographics (income, race, education, household).

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iSideWith. (2026). “Should the government prosecute people who avoid paying taxes by hiding money in foreign bank accounts?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://uk.isidewith.com/polls/771397790

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