HMRC to hire extra compliance staff

HMRC to hire extra compliance staff

The Treasury has announced plans for HMRC to hire an additional 5,000 staff to clamp down on tax cheats and set aside more investment for IT infrastructure.

The newly appointed minister responsible for HMRC, James Murray, Exchequer secretary to the Treasury has set out a brief overview of plans to deal with tax avoidance and HMRC funding, in a written statement to MPs.

In May 2024, HMRC was given emergency funding of £51M to deal with the staffing problem resulting from the decision not to close the HMRC phone helplines.

Murray told MPs: ‘The government will take a comprehensive approach to tackling the tax gap and making sure more of the tax revenues that are owed are correctly paid.’

‘The government will invest in HMRC’s compliance work, hiring around 5,000 additional staff to recover more tax revenues.’

‘HMRC has already started the process of recruiting additional staff into compliance roles.’

Reports show that at present anyone with complex tax affairs will find that HMRC’s website is ill-equipped to help with their needs.

In the latest annual report, HMRC acknowledged that it had moved too quickly and taxpayers were not ready for the rapid speed of change to digital only. The Budget on 30 October will see further announcements about how the government plans to tackle the tax gap and reduce tax avoidance and evasion, aside from expected tax rises.