Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 39
39
Not Addressed
HMRC's e-invoicing consultation explores information reporting requirements for businesses
Conclusion
We asked HMRC about its joint consultation with the Department for Business & Trade on e–invoicing which it launched in February 2025. HMRC said e–invoicing has the potential to help businesses and build tax compliance into the way they run their business. We asked what was being covered in the consultation. HMRC said the consultation included asking businesses and customers about what information should be reported to HMRC.81 78 CTS0001 79 HM Revenue & Customs and Department for Business & Trade, Electronic invoicing: promoting e–invoicing across UK businesses and the public sector, February 2025, Section What is e–invoicing. 80 C&AG’s Report, para 3.12 81 Qq 26, 70 21
Government Response Summary
The government's response focuses entirely on HMRC's use of AI and its initiatives in this area, without addressing the committee's observation or implicit query about e-invoicing.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 6.2 HMRC has written to the Committee alongside this Treasury Minute response. 6.3 HMRC is well positioned to take advantage of emerging technologies, particularly AI, to modernise operations, enhance customer experience, and improve productivity. With over two decades of experience applying AI in areas such as predictive analytics, risk assessment, and fraud detection, HMRC has embedded AI into core compliance and customer service functions. This includes tools like VAT Predictive Analytics, Bulk Data Exploitation Capability, and debt prediction models. 6.4 To further advance its AI ambition, HMRC is piloting several Generative AI initiatives: • A cross-government chatbot to improve navigation of HMRC guidance. • Copilot, trialled by thousands of staff, to enhance content summarisation, research, and search capabilities, with plans to scale significantly. • Call summarisation tools to streamline agent workflows and improve service delivery. 6.5 In 2025-26, HMRC will launch new AI-powered compliance tools and expand data-sharing collaborations (e.g. with the DWP). These efforts are supported by a secure Gen AI Landing Zone hosted in HMRC’s Cloud tenancy, enabling safe use of advanced models like GPT-4o 6.6 To ensure the right capability and capacity, HMRC has established an AI Board and delivery team, invested in training through the CDIO University and Digital Academy, and launched career development schemes to reskill staff into future-critical roles such as Cloud Engineers and Solution Architects. 6.7 These initiatives underpin a clearly defined investment proposal focused on delivering improved compliance outcomes and operational efficiencies through AI-enabled digital delivery.