15 Facts About HMRC

HMRC was formed by the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise, which took effect on 18 April 2005.

HMRC is a law enforcement agency which has a strong cadre of criminal investigators responsible for investigating Serious Organised Fiscal Crime.

HMRC have the power to apply for orders requiring information to be produced; apply for and execute search warrants; make arrests; search suspects and premises following arrest; and recover criminal assets through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

HMRC is listed under parts of the British government which contribute to intelligence collection, analysis and assessment.

However, a major review of the powers required by HMRC was announced at the time of the 2004 pre-budget report on 9 December 2004, covering the suitability of existing powers, new powers that might be required, and consolidating the existing compliance regimes for surcharges, interest, penalties and appeal, which may lead to a single, consolidated enforcement regime for all UK taxes, and a consultation document was published after the 2005 budget on 24 March 2005.

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In May 2009, staff morale in HMRC was the lowest of 11 government departments surveyed.

In 2013, HMRC began to introduce an update to the PAYE system, which meant it would receive information on tax and employee earnings from employers each month, rather than at the end of a tax year.

On 12 November 2015, HMRC proposed to replace local offices with 13 regional centres by 2027.

Treasury minister responsible for HMRC is the economic secretary to the Treasury, Richard Fuller MP.

In February 2010, HMRC encountered problems following the implementation of their taxes modernisation program called Modernising Pay-as-you-Earn Processes for Customers .

Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at HMRC, said the department operates a zero-tolerance policy on racial discrimination.

Whistleblower Osita Mba revealed to The Guardian that HMRC entered a deal with Goldman Sachs which allowed Goldman Sachs to escape paying £10 million interest on unpaid tax.

HMRC told us that it had changed how it deals with whistleblowers and that it now provides information to its audit and risk committee who can use this to challenge how HMRC handles whistleblowers.

HMRC alleged that the "unscientific and out-of-date survey of tweets" did "not represent the real picture" but said that 3000 extra staff had been taken on to respond to calls.

Revenue and Customs Digital Technology Services is a subsidiary of HMRC established in 2015 to provide technical and digital services.