New statistics have shown that Slough ranks third across the country for the number of individuals admitting unpaid tax.

Research by accountancy group UHY Hacker Young has revealed only St Albans and Edinburgh have had more disclosures of unpaid tax per 100,000 people in the last financial year. St Albans tops the list with 24 disclosures, followed by Edinburgh with 23 and then Slough with 19.

In total, there were 72 disclosures of unpaid tax in Slough last year.

The accountancy group have said they believe the crackdown on the use of tax planning schemes may have driven the number of disclosures in some areas. Penalties are usually likely to be more lenient if a taxpayer admits voluntarily tax avoidance.

Across England and Wales, there was an average of 11 disclosures per 100,000 people last year, with a total of approximately 6380 disclosures (not including areas with less than five disclosures per 100,000 people).

The top 10 disclosures per 100k population are:

1. St Albans – 24

2. Edinburgh – 23

3. Slough – 19

4. Bournemouth – 15

5. Milton Keynes – 15

6. London – 15

7. Bristol – 14

8. Oxford – 14

9. Dartford – 13

10. Brighton - 13

Andrew Snowdon, Partner at UHY Hacker Young, says: “Some very normal commuter belt towns like Slough are minor hotspots for admitting unpaid tax which may reflect their residents’ views on the rising tax burden in areas like income tax and SDLT.”

“As HMRC continues to beef up its compliance teams and data resources, there is increasingly nowhere to hide for those with unpaid tax bills

“Making a disclosure it almost always the best way to deal with an irregular tax position but it’s important to seek professional advice before doing so in order to get the best possible settlement.”