Guidance

Check genuine HMRC contact that uses more than one communication method

Check recent contacts from HMRC to help you decide if a suspicious email, phone call, text or letter could be a scam.

From:
HM Revenue & Customs
Published
30 July 2021
Last updated
1827 August 2025 — See all updates

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 you 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.

Report suspicious phone calls, emails or texts to HMRC.

Agents, small and mid-sized business survey

From 14 July 2025 up to and including 31 March 2026, you may receive an email, letter or phone call from IFF Research.

HMRC is working with IFF Research to understand users’ perceptions and experiences of interacting with HMRC.

The research will help inform how HMRC engages with businesses in future.

You may be contacted by IFF Research if you are:

  • a small business
  • a mid-size business
  • an agent

If you are contacted, you may be asked to:

  • take part in a survey
  • take part in an interview
  • help test possible solutions

You will not need to provide any details about your tax affairs.

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

Agents — preparation for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

From 19 May 2025 up to and including 12 September 2025, you may receive an email, letter or phone call from Verian.

HMRC is working with an independent research agency Verian, to understand agents’ preparation for the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax requirements.

You may be contacted by Verian if you are an agent.

If you are contacted, you may be asked to take part in a:

  • survey

  • follow up interview

You will not be asked for financial information or information about your tax affairs.

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential

  • used for research purposes only

Application for Action research

From 21 July 2025 up to and including 8 September 2025, you may receive an email, letter or phone call from Ipsos.

HMRC will work with Ipsos, an independent research agency, to carry out research with intellectual property rights holders to understand awareness and use of HMRC’s Application for Action.

The research will help HMRC:

  • improve the effectiveness of the Application for Action

  • provide better support for businesses

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • anonymous
  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

Business investment and costs research

From 1 August 2025 up to and including 30 November 2025, you may receive a letter, phone call or email from Ipsos.

HMRC is working with the research agency Ipsos, to explore experiences of business investment and collect information about the costs involved with business investment projects.

If you’re invited, taking part in this research is voluntary. All responses and details given will be:

  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

HMRC will not be able to identify participants.

Changes to your tax code 

HMRC may contact you by email or text message.

If we believe you’ve been given an incorrect tax code after starting a new job, you may receive an email or text message explaining that your tax code will change.

You will not be asked for personal, business or financial information.

We may direct you to further support and guidance, including:

Claims for overpaid VAT on gaming machine income — pub company tenant claims

HMRC may contact you by letter or phone call.

We are contacting tenants of pub companies who made claims on behalf of their tenants for overpaid VAT on gaming machine income.

If you are contacted, we will:

  • tell you which pub company made the claim on your behalf

  • ask you if you want to pursue your claim

If you want to make a claim we’ll ask you for your bank account details if you are no longer registered for VAT.

Client and tax adviser relationships

From 20 May 2025 up to and including 26 September 2025, you may receive an email, letter or phone call from Ipsos UK.

HMRC is working with Ipsos UK, an independent research agency, to explore the relationship between clients and their tax advisers.

You may be contacted by Ipsos UK if you have sent a Self Assessment, Corporation Tax, or VAT tax return and authorised a tax adviser to deal with HMRC on your behalf.

If you are contacted, you may be asked to take part in:

  • an online survey

  • a telephone survey

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential

  • used for research purposes only

Corporation Tax — research about the time between incorporation and first filing

From 31 July 2025 up to and including 21 August 2025, you may receive an email or phone call from People for Research.

HMRC is working with independant research agency People for Research, to understand the experience of businesses on the time between incorporation and first Corporation Tax filing.

If you are contacted, you may be asked to take part in an interview.

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

Corporation Tax — understanding small businesses who file company accounts or tax returns

From 7 July 2025 up to and including 20 October 2025, you may receive an email, letter or phone call from Ipsos.

HMRC is working with an independent research agency Ipsos, to understand the experience of small businesses dealing with Corporation Tax when filing company accounts and tax returns with HMRC.

The aim of this research is to improve the experience of small business owners.

If you are contacted, you may be asked to:

  • take part in an interview
  • complete a survey

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

Data holder notice

HMRC may contact you by letter, email or phone.

If you have received either a formal notice or a formal notice of assessments by letter, HMRC’s Data Acquisition and Exchange may contact you or your representatives to discuss this with you.

You may receive a phone call or email to help you to follow HMRC’s data gathering legislation.

Economic crime supervision

HMRC may contact you by letter, email, phone call or text message.

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

Help to Save — request to update your bank details

HMRC may contact you by letter, email or phone call.

HMRC may contact you to tell you about funds in your Help to Save account that we cannot pay you as the bank details we hold are incorrect.

We will ask you to update your bank details in your Help to Save account. Once your bank details are correct, we will automatically make any outstanding payments.

You can call the Help to Save helpline to confirm the request to update your bank details is genuine.

High Income Child Benefit Charge — check if you need to pay the charge

From 21 July 2025 up to and including 1 September 2025, HMRC may contact you by letter or text message.

We’ll ask you to check if you need to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge for the tax year 2023 to 2024.

If you need to pay the charge, you must register for Self Assessment by 30 September 2025.

If we contact you, we will not include, or ask for any:

  • personal details
  • financial information

HMRC compliance check survey

HMRC may contact you by email or letter after the closure of a compliance, National Minimum Wage or securities check.

We may contact you following a compliance, National Minimum Wage or securities check, to complete a short survey on your experience during it. The survey will allow HMRC to identify if we need to improve how we conduct checks.

The survey is voluntary and will not ask for any personal or financial information. If you need any further information, contact the caseworker who dealt with your check.

HMRC individuals customer experience and perceptions research

From 1 September 2025 up to and including 27 February 2026, you may receive an email, letter or phone call from Verian.

HMRC is working with Verian, an independent research agency, to survey individuals’ experiences and perceptions of dealing with HMRC.

You may receive an email, letter or phone call from Verian asking you to take part in a survey.

If you complete the survey, you may also be asked to join a follow-up interview to help us understand the findings in more depth.

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

  • confidential
  • anonymous
  • used for research purposes only

You will not be asked for financial information or details about your tax affairs.

HMRC customer letters research

From 1 May 2025 up to and including 30 September 2025, HMRC may contact you by phone call or email to invite you to a telephone survey.

The survey will allow you to share your experience of receiving letters from HMRC.

Your feedback will be used to help us improve our customer services.

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

HMRC research to understand differences of interpretation of tax law

From 12 May 2025 up to and including 30 September 2025, you may receive a letter from HMRC. This will be followed by an email or phone call from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen).

HMRC is working with independent research agency NatCen, to explore the differences in legal interpretation of tax law.

The research will help HMRC improve its services.

If you are contacted, you may be asked to take part in an interview online or by phone.

Taking part is voluntary and will have no impact on your current or future relationship with HMRC. All information given will be:

  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

HMRC penalty suspension research

From 17 March 2025 up to and including 31 August 2025, you may receive a letter from HMRC, followed by an email or phone call from Verian.

HMRC is working with independent research agency Verian, to explore taxpayers’ views on penalties and penalty suspension.

The research will help HMRC understand the impact of penalties and penalty suspension on taxpayers and will be used to inform policy decisions.

If you are contacted, you may be asked to take part in:

  • an interview
  • a survey

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

Impacts of changes to Research and Development (R&D) tax reliefs and allowances

From 1 July 2025 up to and including 31 October 2025, you may receive an email, letter or phone call from Ipsos.

HMRC is working with independent research agency Ipsos, to understand the experience and attitudes of businesses towards:

  • claiming R&D tax reliefs
  • claiming R&D allowance (RDA)
  • use of the advance assurance service

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • anonymous
  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

Jointly Managed Engagement Team — HMRC payroll enquiry

HMRC may contact you by phone, letter or email

HMRC may contact employers or third parties to clarify payroll information submitted through Real Time Information (RTI).

If contacted by phone, you will be:

  • told we have a payroll enquiry
  • asked to complete standard security questions
  • asked for a breakdown of pay and deductions for an individual

If contacted by email, you will be:

  • told we have a payroll enquiry
  • asked to contact HMRC by telephone
  • asked for a breakdown of pay and deductions for an individual — if you are emailed after speaking on a telephone call

If contacted by letter, you will be:

  • told we have a payroll enquiry
  • asked for a breakdown of pay and deductions for an individual

Landlords and sole traders — preparation for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax

From 7 July 2025 up to and including 19 September 2025, you may receive a letter and phone call from Verian.

HMRC is working with an independent research agency Verian, to understand sole traders and landlords preparation for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

You may be contacted by Verian if you made a Self Assessment tax return.

If you are contacted, you may be asked to take part in a short telephone survey.

Your feedback will be used to help us improve our services to sole traders and landlords.

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

Large Business Survey

From 6 August 2025 up to and including 26 March 2026, you may receive a letter, email or phone call from IFF Research.

HMRC is working with IFF Research an independent research agency, to explore large business customers’ experiences of interacting with HMRC.

The research will help HMRC understand the priorities and needs of large businesses and will be used to inform policy decisions.

If you are contacted, you may be asked to take part in:

  • a survey
  • an interview

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential
  • used for research purposes only

Logging into your HMRC tax account

HMRC may contact you by text message or automated voice call.

Multi-factor authentication is an extra security feature which replaces 2-step verification. It helps prevent someone else from accessing your digital account, even if they know your 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

National Minimum Wage and employment

HMRC may contact you by letter, email or phone call.

We may 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.

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 you by email or letter.

We 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.

We 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.

Online marketplace compliance check

From 30 June 2025 up to and including 30 December 2025, HMRC may contact you by letter, email or phone call.

We may contact online marketplaces by letter to check that you are:

  • correctly collecting VAT for sales made by overseas sellers
  • completing due diligence checks

You will be asked to:

  • provide information
  • complete a questionnaire

You will need to register your online marketplace for VAT if you have not already done so.

If you believe you are not an online marketplace, email or phone HMRC with an explanation.

If we do not hear from you we will contact you by letter, email or phone call.

Overseas businesses that sell digital services to UK consumers

HMRC may contact you by email and letter.

If you have an overseas business and sell digital services to UK consumers, we may contact you about your UK VAT obligations by email and letter.

The letter and email will explain why we are contacting you, and will ask you 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 may contact you by letter and email.

If you are based overseas and trading on online marketplaces, we may contact you 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 you to pay your assessment by visiting www.gov.uk and searching ‘pay your VAT bill’
  • contain a link to this webpage, so you can see that HMRC is using email for this purpose

Self Assessment — missing tax return

From 22 September 2025 up to and including 10 November 2025, you may receive a letter or text message from HMRC.

HMRC may contact you if we’re unsure whether you filed a Self Assessment tax return for the tax year ending 5 April 2024.

We may ask you to:

  • check if you need to file a tax return for the tax year ending 5 April 2024
  • send an overdue return
  • let us know if you no longer need to file a Self Assessment tax return

The message will:

We will not ask you for any personal or financial information.

Self Assessment — request to appeal a late payment or filing penalty

From 24 June 2025 HMRC may contact you by email or text message.

HMRC may contact you by email or text message when you submit an appeal against a late payment or filing penalty. These messages will:

  • be sent automatically when you submit your appeal
  • provide you with updates on the progress of your appeal

If we email you, the subject line will be one of the following:

  • we’ve received your appeal against a Self Assessment penalty
  • update on the Self Assessment penalty we charged you
  • update on your penalty and request to leave Self Assessment
  • we’ve cancelled your Self Assessment penalty

You will not be asked for any personal or financial information.

Self Assessment — request to leave

HMRC may contact you by email or text message.

HMRC may contact you by email or text message if you tell them:

  • you want to leave Self Assessment
  • you’re no longer self-employed

HMRC will contact you using the email address or phone number you have provided. The email will be titled ‘Your request to leave Self Assessment’.

You will not be asked for any personal or financial information.

Statutory notices requesting information

HMRC may contact you by letter, email or phone call.

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.

VAT register inactivity

HMRC may contact you by phone call or email.

We may contact you if we believe you no longer need to hold a VAT registration number, due to recent inactivity on your 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.

VAT visits and inspections

HMRC may contact you by phone call, email or letter.

We may contact you to arrange VAT visits and inspections.

An email will tell you we’ve attempted to call you and ask you to call us back.

The phone call will:

  • ask you to arrange a visit
  • confirm what information we’ll want to see

A letter will:

  • ask you to call us to arrange a visit
  • confirm what information we’ll want to see

We’ll always attempt to contact you by phone first, if unsuccessful we’ll send a letter or email.

We’ll already have your name and your business’s name when we contact you. We will not ask you for any personal information, such as your bank details.

If you’re not sure if the call, email or letter is from HMRC you can contact the VAT helpline.

Voluntary National Insurance contributions research

From 4 August 2025 up to and including 17 October 2025, you may receive an email, letter or phone call from Ipsos UK or their recruiter Paton Williamson Consultancy.

HMRC is working with Ipsos UK and their recruiter Paton Williamson Consultancy to research customer’s experiences of making voluntary National Insurance contributions.

If you are contacted, you may be asked to take part in an interview.

Taking part is voluntary. All information given will be:

  • confidential
  • used only for research purposes

Updates to this page

Published 30 July 2021
Last updated 1827 August 2025 + show all updates

  2. Section 'Research and Development (R&D) tax relief' has been removed, as this information is covered in section 'Impacts of changes to Research and Development (R&D) tax reliefs and allowances'.

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