Check genuine HMRC contact that uses more than one communication method

Sometimes HMRC uses more than one way to get in touch. For example, we may contact you by letter first before following up with an email, call or text message. This is because:

• it can provide an extra level of security
• it can help prepare customers for the follow up contact
• these are the contact details HMRC has for you

All the HMRC contacts listed on this page can use more than one communication method. They are in alphabetical order.

Automatic Exchange of Information

If you are a financial institution, HMRC’s Data Acquisition and Exchange may contact you or your representatives to discuss the Automatic Exchange of Information.

You will receive:

• a formal notice of assessments by letter
• an email to inform you this letter has been sent

You may receive a phone call or email to help you to follow the Automatic Exchange of Information legislation.

To check that this contact is genuine you should call 03000 576 748 (find out about call charges).

Business and personal taxes research

HMRC is working with research agency, People for Research, to recruit businesses to attend interviews with social researchers.

The interviews aim to understand businesses’ thoughts on navigating between their business taxes and personal taxes online.

We encourage you to take part in this research to help inform the design of HMRC services.

If you take part, your personal details will:

• be handled in accordance with data protection law
• be held securely at all times
• not be shared beyond the research team without your explicit consent

Corporation Tax research

HMRC is working with research agency, Kantar Public UK, to carry out research. This research aims to understand the experiences of small and mid-sized businesses dealing with Corporation Tax.

If you’re a small or mid-sized business or a tax agent, you may receive an email, letter or telephone call inviting you to take part in this research.

Taking part is voluntary and if you do so, all information given will be:

• confidential
• used only for research purposes

If you need further information, contact details for Kantar Public UK and HMRC will be in the email or letter.

Customer experience of HMRC

HMRC is working with research agency Kantar Public to carry out research with:

• individuals aged 16 and over
• businesses
• tax agents

The purpose of this research is to understand customer views to help HMRC improve service quality.

You may receive a letter, email or phone call from Kantar Public, inviting you to take part.

The research will not ask you to provide any financial information or ask any details about your tax affairs.

Taking part is voluntary. All answers and any information given will be:

• confidential
• used for research purposes only

Customs intermediaries monitoring survey

HMRC will be working with Ipsos to carry out research. The research involves interviews to track the ongoing impact of full controls on customs intermediaries.

This will:

• support customs intermediaries
• make sure trade runs smoothly

You may receive a letter or phone call from Ipsos asking you to take part in this survey. Taking part is voluntary and if you do so, your answers and any information given will be:

• confidential
• anonymised
• used for research purposes only

Economic crime supervision

The purpose of economic crime supervision is to:

• protect the UK against the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing
• help businesses understand their risks and obligations
• prevent non-compliance
• find and tackle unregistered businesses
• carry out effective intelligence and risk-based interventions

To do this, HMRC will:

• contact businesses by letter and phone
• carry out compliance visits
• issue email and text message alerts
• offer online education to make sure businesses meet money laundering regulations

Employer benefits in kind

HMRC is working with research agency IFF Research to carry out research about:

• the types of benefits in kind employers offer their employees
• whether employers reimburse employee expenses

IFF Research is contacting employers by letter about this research. Employers will then receive a phone call asking them to take part in a survey interview.

Taking part is voluntary and if you do so, your answers and any information you give, will be:

• confidential
• used for research purposes only

HMRC will not be able to identify the businesses that take part, or their individual answers.

Employers’ experiences of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)

Research agency Ipsos is carrying out research on behalf of HMRC to understand the impact of the CJRS.

You may receive a letter or email inviting you to take part in this research. This will be followed by a phone call to conduct a survey. Employers may receive a letter or email even if they did not submit a claim through CJRS.

Taking part is voluntary but if you do so, your answers and any information given will be:

• confidential
• used for research purposes only

If you need further information, contact details for both Ipsos and HMRC will be on the letter or email.

Large Business Customer Survey 2022

HMRC will work with IFF Research to conduct research with large businesses about:

• wider influences on attitudes and decision-making in relation to tax
• large business customers’ interaction with HMRC

This information allows HMRC to assess how services could develop and improve. You may receive a letter, email or phone call from IFF Research asking you to take part in a survey.

Taking part is voluntary and if you do so, your answers will be:

• confidential
• used for research purposes only

If you need further information, contact details for both IFF Research and HMRC will be on the letter and email.

Logging into your HMRC tax account

Multi-factor authentication is an extra security feature for customers which replaces 2-step verification. It helps prevent someone else from accessing a customer’s digital account, even if they know the user ID and password. HMRC will send an access code by text message or voice call to your chosen mobile phone or landline number to activate the multi-factor authorisation. You will need this code to complete the access.

These text messages and voice calls will never ask you to give personal or financial information.

If you have activated multi-factor authentication you’ll only be able to access the account using the:

• Government Gateway user ID and password
• mobile or landline device which you have registered

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax pilot

HMRC will be inviting customers who have signed up to the MTD ITSA pilot to an interview with one of their social researchers.

You’ll receive information about this research by email, phone call or letter.

The interviews aim to understand views and experiences of the MTD ITSA pilot. HMRC will work with research agency People for Research, to arrange incentives.

We encourage you to take part and if you do so, your personal details will:

• be held securely at all times in line with data protection law
• not be shared outside of the research team without your explicit consent

Mid-sized business customer survey

HMRC is working with research agency Kantar Public on a survey about Mid-sized businesses. This annual survey helps HMRC:

• increase understanding of Mid-sized businesses’ experiences of dealing with HMRC
• understand how services could be improved

You may receive a letter from Kantar Public and HMRC telling you about the research followed by a phone call from Kantar Public inviting you to take part.

Taking part is voluntary and if you do so your answers and any information given will be:

• confidential
• used for research purposes only

If you need any further information, contact details will be on the letter.

National Minimum Wage and employment

HMRC may sometimes contact employees to discuss details of their current or previous employment.

If we call you, we’ll:

• tell you our enquiry is about the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage
• ask you basic questions about your current work or previous employment experiences
• complete some standard security questions

We’ll never ask for personal financial information such as bank details without writing to you first.

You can ask us not to tell your current or previous employer about the call.

HMRC will also contact employers in relation to National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage enquiries.

To check that this contact is genuine you should:

• have a copy of the letter or email you’ve received from National Minimum Wage to hand
• tell us the details of the person who called you from National Minimum Wage
• call 03000 557 755 (find out about call charges)

If you have received a letter, email, text or phone call from another HMRC office you can call the Income Tax general enquiry helpline to check this contact is genuine.

National Minimum Wage common errors

HMRC may contact employers or third parties to share information on common errors with the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage. The email will provide links to further information and support.

HMRC may contact employees by letter to provide information on common errors to look out for in their pay.

The letter will explain how to make a National Minimum Wage complaint and contain links to further information and support.

To check this contact is genuine you should:

• have a copy of the letter or email you’ve received about National Minimum Wage to hand
• telephone 03000 557 755 (find out about call charges)

Overseas businesses that sell digital services to UK consumers

HMRC is contacting overseas businesses who sell digital services to UK consumers about their UK VAT obligations by email and letter.

This communication will explain why we are contacting them, and ask them to contact us. We will not ask for any personal, business or financial information.

Overseas businesses that sell goods on online marketplaces to UK consumers

HMRC is contacting customers who are based overseas and trading on online marketplaces to issue VAT assessments.

We will send:

• a formal notice of assessments by letter

• an email to inform you this letter has been sent

The email will:

• not request any personal, business or financial information

• inform customers to pay their assessment by visiting www.gov.uk and searching “pay your VAT bill”

• contain a link to this webpage, so customers can see that HMRC is using email for this purpose

Research on HMRC’s digital services

HMRC is working with research agency, Kantar Public UK, to better understand the needs of people that:

• support or assist others in their dealings with HMRC
• are helped by others in their dealings with HMRC

The findings from the research will inform the design of HMRC’s digital services.

You may receive an email or phone call from Kantar Public UK if you’ve:

• recently taken part in an online survey about your experiences of helping others in their dealings with HMRC
• agreed to be contacted again for further research

The email or phone call will tell you about the research and ask you to take part in an interview. This will help improve HMRC’s future digital services for those helping others with their HMRC dealings.

Taking part is voluntary and if you do so, your answers and any information you provide will be:

• confidential
• only used for research purposes

If you need any further information, Kantar Public UK can provide you with a named HMRC contact when they phone you.

Schools outreach programme analysis

The Government Social Research and Government Economic Service is running an outreach programme. The programme aims to promote a career in government analysis to school pupils aged 14 to 18.

It will inform students and schools about:

• career opportunities within the Civil Service
• the role of analysis in government

Our aim is to:

• promote and encourage a diverse and inclusive Civil Service
• improve awareness of the opportunities the Civil Service offers

HMRC may contact you by email, letter or phone call about setting up a session with your school.

To check that this contact is genuine you should call 03000 557 755 (find out about call charges).

Statutory notices requesting information

HMRC’s Data Acquisition and Exchange regularly issues statutory notices to the holders of certain types of information, asking them to provide relevant details to HMRC. The holders of the information have a legal obligation to provide the data requested.

The notices requesting information can be sent by post or email.

Notices issued by email will contain a link to this webpage, so you can see that HMRC is using email for this purpose.

Tax relief evaluations

Independent agencies will carry out interviews, on behalf of HMRC, as part of a series of evaluations on a range of tax reliefs.

You may receive a letter or phone call from IFF Research, Ipsos, Kantar Public, London Economics or Global Data Collection Company (GDCC) inviting you to take part in an interview.

Taking part is voluntary but we encourage you to do so. This will help HMRC to evaluate the effects of these tax reliefs.

If you do take part, your answers and any information you give will be:

• anonymous
• confidential
• used for evaluation purposes only

Temporary Customer Compliance Manager support

HMRC is offering some mid-sized business customers support from a temporary Customer Compliance Manager (CCM).

This support is for mid-sized business customers who may:

• have greater tax complexity
• be going through specific life events
• have had significant growth

You may be contacted by email, letter or phone call about one-to-one support from a temporary CCM.

This contact will include:

• include a brief introduction about support being offered
• an invitation to a meeting to discuss how HMRC may support you
• contact information (a GOV.UK email address and 03000 phone number)

VAT register inactivity

HMRC is contacting customers who are believed to no longer need to hold a VAT registration number due to recent inactivity on their VAT account. You may receive a phone call or email, with the email referring to VAT register inactivity.

The phone calls or emails will ask you to confirm whether you still require to be VAT registered, and to provide some basic information on where you’re trading.

The calls or emails will not ask for personal or financial information.