TUC boss and retail chief call for action on wealthy tax dodgers

Julian Richer, the business owner, left, and Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, called for more funding for HMRC tax investigations. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

The head of Britain’s trade union movement and the boss of a leading retailer have joined forces to demand the government takes tougher action to catch wealthy tax dodgers.

Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), and Julian Richer, founder of the Richer Sounds hi-fi chain, said the public were losing out on up to £36bn a year in taxes owed by companies and individuals that were not being collected.