Understanding the population of Company Owner Managers (COMs)' research

A Company Owner Manager (COM) is a shareholder and director of their company: they control the affairs of the company and perform duties with a view to making profit. COMs typically pay themselves fully or partially in dividends, reducing the amount of tax they pay as an individual. The IFS has identified COMs as the single fastest growing labour market group.

Tax motivated incorporation has been highlighted as a fiscal risk by the OBR as the lower effective tax rates that COMs pay pose a risk to the tax base and revenue sustainability.

COMs cannot be identified in HMRC data - advice to ministers is currently underpinned by uncertain assumptions. External research to understand the population of COMs will transform the quality of the analysis and advice for ministers on COMs, and inform future options to protect the tax base.

To ensure policy teams in HMRC and HMT can provide robust, high-quality advice to ministers in the future, HMRC will undertake a survey of companies to understand the population of COMs, including the ways in which they are remunerated for their work in the company.