About 45,000 holders of secret offshore bank accounts have owned up to unpaid tax bills under a partial amnesty, but the amounts netted have fallen short of HM Revenue & Customs' expectations.

A total of £400m was paid into the government's coffers by the November 26 deadline, as tax-payers sought to take advantage of the 10 per cent penalty cap. The largest payment was £3m. The average was £9,000.