HMRC pays out nearly £1m in tax fraud tip-offs

The tax agency HMRC has nearly doubled the amount paid out to those making tip-offs, the highest figure of at least the past seven years.

According to Freedom of Information data obtained by accountancy firm Price Bailey, HMRC has paid out nearly £1m for tip-offs over 2023/24, 92 per cent higher than the £508,500 paid over 2022/23.

HMRC has been actively trying to reduce its £39.8bn tax gap.

The tax agency received 151,763 anonymous tip-offs via its fraud hotline channels in 2023/24, but this was less than the 157,270 reports it received in 2022/23.

The figures show that the agency has upped the amounts it paid out for informants, but the firm’s tax partner believes the amounts still need to be increased.

Price Bailey partner Andrew Park stated that “while HMRC has paid out a record amount to tax whistleblowers, it is still a paltry sum when set against the billions lost to tax fraud every year.”

“The modest size of the payouts and the lack of transparency about how the reward system operates do not provide sufficient incentive for taxpayers to come forward with high quality information,” he added.

The accountancy firm pointed out that the IRS in the US makes larger payments to whistleblowers. The US tax agency paid a total of $89m to just 121 whistleblowers which led to the recovery of $338m in tax.

Park stated that “the UK tax fraud hotline is opaque by comparison.”

“Awards are paid out on a discretionary basis and are not geared to the amount of tax recovered, which means that there is little incentive for people to report major tax fraud.”

“Many whistleblowers are employees of the business they are making reports about, and while whistleblowers are protected by law, employees are likely to baulk at the risk of losing their jobs for a relatively insignificant payout,” he explained.

Park added that “anything HMRC can do to make its reporting system more accessible and transparent would be welcomed”.