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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

The cost of the tax system

Status: Closed Opened: 15 Jan 2025 Closed: 17 Jul 2025 4 recommendations 35 conclusions 1 report

HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) stated aim is to run the tax system in the simplest, most customer-focused and efficient way. In 2020, the Government published its 10-year strategy to build a trusted, modern tax administration system. The long-term goal is to create a system which prevents non-compliance, and allows both businesses and individuals to …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
23rd Report - The cost of the tax system HC 645 30 Apr 2025 39 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

2 items
15 Conclusion 23rd Report - The cost of the tax system Acknowledged

Declining trust in HMRC attributes to substandard services and broader global governmental trends.

We asked about taxpayers’ declining trust in HMRC. HMRC said there had been a decline in trust globally with governments and with public bodies, and it was also subject to that decline. It told us that it had not been providing services up to the standards it wanted to, and …

Government response. The government agrees with the observation about declining trust and outlines its ongoing efforts to improve trust, including understanding drivers, using customer surveys, and improving services and processes.
HM Treasury
20 Conclusion 23rd Report - The cost of the tax system Acknowledged

Increased senior staff recruitment drives higher salary costs for HMRC compliance.

The Spending Reviews in 2020 and 2021 enabled HMRC to increase its compliance staffing. In 2021–22, CCG recruited mainly senior staff to undertake compliance work. Around the same time, HMRC was reducing its frontline customer service workforce, most of whom were in lower grades. These two changes were the main …

Government response. The government acknowledges the context of compliance staffing by detailing record compliance yield, plans to recruit an additional 5,500 staff by 2030, and expected productivity increases, implicitly justifying the investment in staff despite increased costs.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
6 Mar 2025 Justin Holliday · HMRC, Lucy Pink · HMRC, Sir Jim Harra KCB · HMRC View ↗

Correspondence

3 letters
DateDirectionTitle
15 Sep 2025 To cttee Letter from the Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary of HM Revenue and…
4 Sep 2025 To cttee Letter from the Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary of HM Revenue and…
27 Mar 2025 To cttee Letter from the Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary for HM Revenue an…