Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
23rd Report - The cost of the tax system
Public Accounts Committee
HC 645
Published 30 April 2025
Government response
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-third report from Session 2024-26 · published 18 Sep 2025
Recommendations & Conclusions
15
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Declining trust in HMRC attributes to substandard services and broader global governmental trends.
Conclusion
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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
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20
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Increased senior staff recruitment drives higher salary costs for HMRC compliance.
Conclusion
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 …
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Government Response Summary
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
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