Last week HMRC released names and photographs of people it said had cost the taxpayer millions in lost revenue.
The BBC then reported only one-in-20 people named had been caught, a statistic Labour said proved the project had been a ‘huge failure’.
However, HMRC said the list is a simple way of unearthing fresh leads on the whereabouts of those mentioned.
HMRC’s director of criminal investigation said the gallery was a cost-effective way of bringing in valuable information about the suspects, adding bringing them to justice was a ‘long process’.
The Revenue added ten more faces to the gallery last week.
Shadow treasury minister Catherine McKinnell said it was a ‘huge failure’ that one year on, so many on the most wanted list had still not been caught.
“At a time when families are facing a cost-of-living crisis, it’s even more important that everyone pays their fair share of tax. The government needs to do better,” she said.
However, economic secretary Sajid Javid told the BBC that was an ‘unfair assessment'”.
