Committee publication · Correspondence · 4 February 2025
Letter from the Chair to Sir Jim Harra, HMRC, relating to sanctions, dated 30 January 2025
From: Treasury Committee
Inquiry: Work of HM Revenue and Customs
Summary
The Treasury Committee Chair writes to Sir Jim Harra (HMRC Chief Executive) following an oral evidence session on financial sanctions implementation, seeking detailed clarification on HMRC's role in criminal enforcement of trade sanctions, the new Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation, detection and prosecution capabilities, and transparency practices compared to OFSI.
Key findings
- Committee seeks explanation of changes to HMRC's trade sanctions criminal enforcement work since July 2022
- Questions why HMRC rather than the National Crime Agency handles criminal enforcement of trade sanctions
- Asks how the newly established Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation will affect HMRC's enforcement work and coordination with Department for Business and Trade
- Requests data on HMRC's detection capabilities, staffing levels, investigation numbers, penalties issued, and prosecutions relating to sanctions breaches (2021–2024), particularly regarding Russian sanctions
- Seeks clarity on HMRC's transparency practices and whether it publishes sanctions breach details similarly to OFSI, and the criteria for choosing penalties over criminal enforcement
Tone
ProceduralTopics
Key actors
Dame Meg Hillier MP, Sir Jim Harra, HMRC, Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, National Crime Agency, Department for Business and Trade, Office for Trade Sanctions Implementation, Liam Byrne MP
Notable line
“Why does HMRC rather than the National Crime Agency (NCA) deal with the criminal enforcement of trade sanctions?”
Key Quotes
“Please can you outline how the work for HMRC in relation to criminal enforcement of trade sanctions has changed since you last sent us correspondence about this matter in July 2022?”
“Why doesn't HMRC publish information on breaches in sanctions in a similar way to the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), which gives the details of the company, how it breached sanctions and the amount of penalty issued?”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗