Committee publication · Correspondence · 6 July 2026
Letter from the Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary at HMRC relating to Large Business Tax Compliance, 3 June 2026
From: Public Accounts Committee
Inquiry: Large business tax compliance
Summary
John-Paul Marks, HMRC Chief Executive, responds to Public Accounts Committee follow-up questions from a 18 May 2026 hearing on large business tax compliance. The letter addresses Loan Charge settlements (£4.4bn collected, new settlement opportunity for 32,000 individuals and 5,000 employers), Child Trust Funds awareness campaigns, compliance workforce investment, and HMRC's constraints on providing feedback to fraud reporters due to legal obligations around source protection and taxpayer confidentiality.
Key findings
- HMRC has agreed 27,700 Loan Charge settlements bringing £4.4bn into charge since Budget 2016; new settlement opportunity targets 32,000 individuals and 5,000 employers with approximately £3.6bn outstanding liabilities, potentially offering 50% reductions or full write-offs for ~30% of individuals
- Child Trust Funds campaign achieved 31% increase in GOV.UK i-form completions and raised awareness to 89% among UCAS survey respondents; HMRC plans direct letter rollout from 2026-27 and expansion to TikTok and DWP partnerships
- Compliance workforce expansion includes 507 new graduate Tax Specialists starting Autumn 2025 (up from ~280 annually), 45 tax specialists recruited to Large Business in Autumn 2024, and 48 more on track for Autumn 2025
- HMRC received 170,992 fraud reports in 2025-26 but cannot provide specific feedback to informants due to 'Neither Confirm Nor Deny' principle under RIPA 2000 and Section 18 Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 statutory confidentiality obligations
- New criminal sanctions under Finance Act 2026 target tax avoidance promoters with fines or imprisonment for non-disclosure, promoting prohibited schemes, or ignoring enforcement notices
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
John-Paul Marks, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Public Accounts Committee, HMRC, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, DWP, UCAS, OBR
Notable line
“These statutory obligations mean we are unable to attribute outcomes directly to information provided by the public or provide specific feedback to those who report suspicions of fraud.”
Key Quotes
“Overall, between Budget 2016 and 31 March 2025, we have agreed around 27,700 settlements with employers and individuals of their disguised remuneration schemes bringing around £4.4bn into charge.”
“Most individuals could see reductions of at least 50% in what they have to pay and about 30% of individuals affected may be able to settle without having to pay anything.”
“… the long- established "Neither Confirm Nor Deny" principle. This ensures we do not reveal the existence of someone providing human intelligence or whether information provided has led to specific action, as doing so could risk identifying the source or exposing sensitive investigative methods.”
“In 2025 – 26, our Fraud Reporting Gateway received 170,992 contacts from the public. All reports are triaged and where information meets the threshold for action, it is developed into intelligence and shared with HMRC operational teams, other government departments, or law enforcement partners.”
“… we have expanded the intake into our graduate level Tax Specialist programme from circa 280 to 500 per year with the first cohort of 507 joining HMRC in Autumn”
“This includes partnerships such as UCAS to access relevant audiences through a mix of channels, including targeted emails to 18-year-olds, supported by wider digital activity across UC AS's website and social media platforms including Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗