IRISH banks, including AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and Anglo Irish bank, are among the financial institutions being targeted by the UK’s HM Revenue & Customs office (HMRC) as part of its £80m (€120m) crackdown on tax evasion and offshore banking.

HMRC is understood to have approached its Irish counterparts in the Revenue Commissioners in an attempt to access records held by banks here on accounts opened in Ireland by British residents.

“Irish banks are very definitely a target for the investigation,” said Aileen Barry, national tax investigations director with the law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary. “Notices will also be served on the UK offices of the Irish banks, with a view to accessing records held by them of accounts opened at branches in the republic.”

HMRC has begun issuing “production orders” to financial institutions in the UK demanding details of more than 30,000 accounts it suspects of being used to evade tax.

Barry, who acted as an auditor for the Irish government during the Dirt inquiry, said that her firm has already been retained by clients who have accounts with Irish banks and are fearful that British revenue officials will gain access to these accounts by targeting the banks’ UK operations.

AIB, Ulster Bank and Anglo Irish all said they have not yet been contacted by HMRC.

Bank of Ireland refused to say whether it had been contacted but said: “Like all banks, we get requests for information from tax authorities in the jurisdictions in which we operate.”

The Revenue Commissioners would not comment on its co-operation with UK officials.