Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 14
14
Accepted
ECCTA significantly enhanced data and intelligence sharing between Companies House and HMRC.
Conclusion
Prior to the introduction of ECCTA in March 2024, Companies House had limited scope to share data or insight with other public bodies such as HMRC. The new measures under ECCTA include the ability to proactively share information with other government departments and law enforcement agencies36. Although Companies House and HMRC said they had been working closely for many years, the organisations told us they are now able to share intelligence with each other with no barriers.37 Companies House told us that since the introduction of ECCTA, it has shared 420 intelligence assessments with law enforcement and other government departments, such as HMRC and the Insolvency Service.38 HMRC told us it welcomes ECCTA and that it is working with Companies House to support its implementation. It also said that ECCTA will help it with tax compliance.39
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's recommendation and states that HMRC, Companies House and the Insolvency Service have strong relations, and will implement consistent identity verification and authentication, share risk intelligence, and changes to penalise rogue directors, with an implementation target date of November 2025.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: November 2025 3.2 HMRC will write to the Committee in 6 months' time to update them on plans and progress. HMRC, Companies House and the Insolvency Service have strong relations, further strengthened by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). The three departments have developed a programme of work to facilitate closer co-operation on company registrations and de-registrations, accounting and filing, as well as sharing risk 46 intelligence and data. The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, provided an update on progress in a speech on 11 March 2025 - Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury: 20 years of HMRC - reflections and looking ahead - GOV.UK. 3.3 This joint programme includes implementing consistent identity verification and authentication (IDV&A), access controls, permissions and risking tools across both HMRC and Companies House and longer-term transformation of the end-to-end registration process; implementation of fully tagged financial accounts in iXBRL to enable better targeting of risk by both HMRC and Companies House; an enhanced framework for sharing risk intelligence and data across HMRC, Companies House and Insolvency Service; and a package of changes to help prevent, detect and penalise rogue directors who abuse insolvency processes.