Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 26
23rd Report - The cost of the tax system
Published 30 Apr 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee The cost of the tax system All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Last year HMRC acknowledged that is behind many other organisations in enabling customers to communicate securely through digital channels. In 2022–23, approximately 70% of the 22 million items of correspondence HMRC received came in through the post. In January 2025 we therefore recommended that as part of its digital roadmap HMRC should prioritise introducing systems for customers to submit files and send secure messages electronically to HMRC.48 The roadmap was due to be published in Spring 2025.49 HMRC told us that it sends “out a lot of paper outputs” and customers receiving post were then inclined to ring or write rather than using HMRC’s digital channels.50 42 Comptroller and Auditor General, Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, published alongside the 2019–20 Accounts, HC 891, November 2020, para 2.40 43 C&AG’s Report, paras 10, 2.12 44 Qq 44–45, 58 45 Q 44 46 C&AG’s Report, para 2.12 47 Qq 46, 50 48 Committee of Public Accounts, HMRC Customer Service and Accounts, Third Report of Session 2024–25, HC 347, 22 January 2025, para 4, p 5 49 Q 74, Committee of Public Accounts, Oral evidence: HMRC Customer Service and Accounts 2023–24, HC 347, November 2024 50 Q 76 16
From: Public Accounts Committee, 23rd Report - The cost of the tax system (HC 645), 30 April 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 18 September 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the report's recommendations, and reports that several are already implemented while others carry target dates.
- On simplification, the government will publish HMRC's Transformation Roadmap in summer 2025, which "will include the metrics HMRC will use to report progress".
- On trust, the government agrees with both recommendations and describes them as "Recommendation implemented", citing annual customer surveys, complaints data and focus groups.
- On compliance productivity, it says HMRC "will recruit an additional 5,500 compliance staff by March 2030", alongside other measures to close the tax gap.
- On legacy IT, HMRC "will write to the Committee" on its remediation plans, forecast cost and expected savings, with a target implementation date of September 2025.