Hundreds of taxpayers and their advisers face scrutiny by HMRC after the department confirmed it is working with its counterparts in the USA and Australia on data that reveals widespread tax evasion.

The three tax authorities are studying 400 gigabytes of information that was leaked to the Revenue by an unnamed source. It is said to show extensive use by wealthy individuals and businesses of complex offshore structures to illegally conceal assets.

The data – the largest single tranche to have …