Fake HMRC calls, texts and emails

HMRC is one of the most impersonated organisations in the UK, because a message about tax feels both official and urgent. Scammers exploit that: fake refund texts, recorded calls threatening arrest, and emails that copy the HMRC logo and colours. HMRC responded to 170,234 referrals of suspicious contact from the public in the year to April 2023, of which 68,437 offered bogus tax rebates¹.

The real HMRC behaves in predictable ways. It contacts people by phone, post or text message, and when it chases a debt it tries those routes before anything else². It does not cold call to threaten arrest, and it does not text you a link to claim a refund out of the blue. This page explains how HMRC actually contacts people, how the common scams work, how to check whether a contact is genuine, and where to get help if you are worried about a real tax debt.

How HMRC really contacts you: mostly by letter

When HMRC needs to reach someone, its stated approach is to try phone, post or text message first². Letters remain the backbone of its contact with taxpayers: HMRC sends letters to tell you about tax calculations, Simple Assessment bills, tax code changes and debts, and it will send a letter, for example, if it thinks you may have missing Home Responsibilities Protection⁷. If HMRC opens a compliance check into your affairs, it will call or write to tell you what it wants to check and why, and it will also write to your authorised tax agent if you have one⁸.

Scammers know that a message that looks like it comes from HMRC carries weight, and they work hard to fake the appearance. Some fake emails are very sophisticated and even contain the HMRC logo and colours⁹. On phones, scammers sometimes use number spoofing to make your phone display "HMRC" as the sender, instead of a phone number¹⁰. That means a message that names HMRC on your screen proves nothing.

The practical rule is to treat any unexpected HMRC message as unverified until you have checked it independently. If you are unsure about a letter, log into your tax account or call HMRC using the number on its website, never the number printed on the letter¹¹. Suspicious emails can be forwarded to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk and suspicious texts to 60599¹⁰. Scam letters can be reported by contacting the HMRC team the letter claims to come from, for example debt management¹².

Tax refund messages and P800 letters

The fake tax refund is the single most common HMRC scam. Of the referrals HMRC received in the year to April 2023, 68,437 offered bogus tax rebates¹, and in the twelve months to November 2021 almost 360,000 of the referrals HMRC saw were offers of fake tax rebates¹³. These scams cluster around deadlines: tax phishing emails claiming to come from HMRC can happen at any time, but are most common around key online and paper tax deadlines, such as when your tax return is due¹⁰.

HMRC does send genuine texts about refunds, but in a narrow set of circumstances. It may send a text saying you are due a tax refund, known as a P800 refund, but only if it has already sent you a letter and had no response³. It may also text you if you have requested a Self Assessment refund, to say the refund is being processed and when to expect it, or to confirm it has received a claim, a form or other correspondence³. The difference between these and a scam is what the message asks for. HMRC's own advice is not to open any links or reply to a text message claiming to be from HMRC that offers you a tax refund in exchange for personal or financial details³.

If you have received a genuine tax calculation letter, known as a P800, the way to claim your refund is to visit the GOV.UK website yourself, not to follow a link in a message¹⁰. Suspicious texts should be sent to 60599 (network charges apply) or emailed to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk, then deleted³.

The volume of genuine HMRC messages is itself used by scammers as cover. HMRC issued more than 4 million text messages and emails in one week in November 2021 urging Self Assessment taxpayers to file their returns¹³, and it has warned around 1.5 million tax credits customers to be alert to scams that mimic government communications¹. A scam arriving in the same week as a real HMRC reminder is much harder to spot, which is why checking through your tax account rather than the message itself matters. See claiming a refund when you have overpaid income tax for how real refunds work.

Threats of arrest, bailiffs and home visits: what HMRC can and cannot do

The most frightening HMRC scam is the arrest threat. Fraudsters cold call and claim to be from HMRC, the courts or immigration authorities, and say you will be arrested if you do not pay a sum of tax¹⁴. The recorded message often tells you to press a number to speak to someone. The advice is simple: do not press anything and hang up¹².

Real HMRC enforcement does not work like that. If you do not pay your tax bill, HMRC will take enforcement action to get the money you owe¹⁵, but the process starts with contact by phone, post or text message². Home visits happen only where someone does not respond or refuses to pay: HMRC may then try to visit them at their home or business address². Even at that stage, a visit is to talk about the debt, not to seize property.

Seizing goods is done by bailiffs in England and Wales, or sheriff officers in Scotland, and HMRC does have unusual powers here. Unlike most other creditors, HMRC does not need to get a court order to use sheriff officers¹⁶, and it does not need a court order to send bailiffs or sheriff officers, though it rarely uses this power¹⁷. In Scotland, HMRC submitted 500 earnings arrestments between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024¹⁸. These are real powers, but they sit at the end of a long process of letters and payment demands, not at the start of a surprise phone call.

On the criminal side, HMRC's policy is to deal with fraud using civil investigation procedures wherever it can, though a criminal investigation may be conducted to send a strong deterrent message or where only a criminal charge is suitable⁸. An unexpected call saying the police are on their way is not how any of this begins.

Debt collection agencies acting for HMRC are not bailiffs

If a tax debt goes unpaid long enough, HMRC may pass it to a debt collection agency. This is where much confusion, and much scamming, happens. A debt collection agency working for HMRC will only contact you by letter, text message or phone, and will never visit you at your home or place of work⁵.

Debt collection agencies are not bailiffs (enforcement agents) and have no special legal powers; they have the same rights as the original creditor¹⁹. Debt collectors are not bailiffs and do not have any extra powers¹⁷. Someone from a debt collection agency cannot enter your home, seize belongings or force entry, and pretending to be a bailiff is a criminal offence¹⁹.

This matters because scammers exploit the blur. Official guidance has warned of a firm contacting victims by phone and in some instances sending fake Notice of Enforcement documents claiming to have been issued by HM Courts and Tribunals Service²⁰. A genuine HMRC debt collector will identify itself, write to you, and expect to discuss payment arrangements, not demand instant payment by unusual methods. If someone claims to be collecting an HMRC debt and threatens a home visit, that is a warning sign in itself, because the real agencies never visit⁵.

Third parties chasing disguised remuneration loan repayments

A separate and more complicated situation affects people who used disguised remuneration schemes, where income was replaced with loans to avoid tax. HMRC is aware that a small number of individuals are being contacted by a third party about repaying a loan they took from such a scheme, and it recognises these requests can be unexpected and distressing²¹. HMRC has published guidance on whether a loan agreement may be unenforceable and is reviewing what the position means for customers²¹.

The background is that HMRC's view is that disguised remuneration schemes that replace income with loans or other forms of credit do not work²². Between April 2019 and May 2020, HMRC identified over 45 such schemes being marketed, aimed at individuals and designed to avoid tax on employment income²³. Promoters have kept adapting: one scheme warned about in Spotlight 49 claims that by entering the scheme, your disguised remuneration loans are paid off²⁴, and HMRC's view of a contractor loan scheme offered in earlier advertising was that it is a form of tax avoidance which HMRC believes does not work²⁵.

If you are contacted about repaying a loan from one of these schemes, the contact may be genuine, but it is not HMRC itself chasing you, and the rules around enforceability are technical. The dedicated page on the loan charge and disguised remuneration schemes covers the scheme, the charge and your options. One warning applies with force here: misleading or concealing information from HMRC may result in criminal prosecution²⁴.

Tax refund companies: where genuine firms can still cost you

Not every problem in this area is a scam. Some firms offer to obtain tax refunds for you, and while many operate legitimately, others may submit inaccurate refund claims to HMRC on your behalf. HMRC may initially pay the refund but ask for it back later, and the firm often charges a fee based on the size of the refund⁹. You remain the taxpayer: an inaccurate claim made in your name is your problem, not just theirs.

The alternative is claiming directly. You can check and claim for a refund of overpaid tax online on GOV.UK, on the HMRC app, or by asking HMRC to send you a cheque, and HMRC may also reduce the tax collected from your future wages²⁶. Claiming yourself costs nothing in fees and avoids the risk of a third party inflating a claim. The HMRC app is free to download²⁷.

A related trap sits with employers and payroll. Where businesses knew or should have known about fraud in their supply chain, HMRC may deny the right to recover VAT input tax²⁸. Where workers' contracts are assigned or transferred to another company without any change in terms and conditions, the business may not be able to deduct VAT input tax for the cost and may have to repay it to HMRC²⁸. For an individual taxpayer the lesson is the same: money that arrives through an intermediary's arrangement can be clawed back, and the person who owes the tax is you.

Paying HMRC safely, including by bank transfer from the app

Once you have checked a bill is real, paying it is straightforward. A Simple Assessment bill, for example, can be paid using the free and secure HMRC app, online via GOV.UK, by bank transfer or by cheque²⁹. The HMRC app is free to download²⁷. For a bank transfer, the details are published on GOV.UK for each tax type: a Child Benefit overpayment, for instance, is paid to the account named "HMRC Child Benefit Remittance"³⁰. The account name is part of the check: your bank's confirmation-of-payee service should match it, and a mismatch is a warning sign.

If you have lost money to a scam, contact your bank immediately and report the scam to Action Fraud¹². There is a backstop for bank transfer scams: everyone making a payment via Faster Payments or CHAPS from one UK bank account to another is covered by the reimbursement requirement for authorised push payment scams²⁹. That protection is not a reason to be careless, but it means a bank transfer to a scammer from a UK account is not automatically unrecoverable, provided you act quickly.

The rule that covers everything in this section: never take payment details from the message that told you about the bill. Take them from GOV.UK, or pay inside the HMRC app where the details are built in.

Checking a contact is genuine: official phone lines

The safest check on any HMRC contact is to use a number or route you found yourself. HMRC's missed call and voicemail line is 0300 200 3884, and if you use call-blocking features, check they allow calls from that number⁴. For tax credit overpayments, HMRC uses 0345 300 3900¹⁷. If you cannot afford to pay within 30 days, the number to call is 0345 302 1429¹⁷. All of these are published on GOV.UK; a number that arrives inside a suspicious message is worth nothing, whoever it claims to belong to.

Some scams name other official bodies to sound credible. Guidance has warned of scam messages instructing recipients to call 0800 448 0220, a number that is not connected to HM Courts and Tribunals Service and is not an HMCTS call centre²⁰. The same warning covered a firm contacting victims by phone and sending fake Notice of Enforcement documents claiming to have been issued by HMCTS²⁰.

For letters, GOV.UK has a page for checking whether a letter you have received from HMRC is genuine, and HMRC will send letters, for example, where it thinks you may have missing Home Responsibilities Protection⁷. The independent advice is the same for every channel: log into your tax account or call HMRC using the number on its website, not the number on the letter¹¹. One rule protects all of this: you must not share your HMRC sign in details with anyone, including your tax agent if you have one⁶. Anyone who asks for your Government Gateway password is not from HMRC.

Scam calls received on your mobile can be reported to 7726¹², and scam calls can also be reported to HMRC using its online form, signing in with your Government Gateway user ID or email address¹¹.

Getting help if you are worried about a tax debt or enquiry

A lot of HMRC scam victims are people with a real worry behind the fear: an unpaid bill, an enquiry, or a debt they cannot face. HMRC has an online tool to help you find the right guidance and support if you owe money for tax or penalties, covering checking whether a letter is genuine, getting extra support due to your health or personal circumstances, making a payment, disagreeing with a decision or penalty, help with signing in to online services, what help is available if you cannot pay on time, and what will happen if you do not pay your tax bill³². If you want to speak to someone about your debts, you can get free, confidential and independent advice from a debt adviser³².

HMRC's own guidance for people who have missed a tax deadline or know they will not be able to pay a tax bill on time is to contact it as soon as possible¹⁵. Its options are wider than many people expect. It may agree to put a debt on hold for 12 months if the person cannot afford £10 a month and it will take longer than three years to pay off the debt¹⁷, and it may agree to write off the debt after 10 years if it will take a very long time to repay¹⁷. For tax credit overpayments, HMRC sends a TC610 form and gives 42 days to pay the amount owed or try to agree a payment plan¹⁶. In some circumstances, such as when the debt is at least £1,000, HMRC has the power to take money from a bank account without a court order¹⁶.

If HMRC opens an enquiry, an officer can start one into any Self Assessment return within 12 months of the date it was submitted, or within 15 months if the return was submitted late³³. HMRC may do a full enquiry, checking all the information on the return, or an aspect enquiry checking one or more specific things³³. If HMRC asks for a meeting, you do not have to go; you can ask that it is held at a place of your choice instead of HMRC offices, and you can take a friend, relative or professional adviser with you³³.

HMRC also has a duty to support people who need extra help, including those with physical or mental health conditions, and it has responsibilities under the Equality Act to make sure no one is disadvantaged because of their health³⁴. Adjustments can include being referred to HMRC's Extra Support Team, allowing more time to respond to letters, taking your circumstances into account before starting enforcement action, and signposting you to voluntary organisations³⁴. Tax debts are not automatically written off because of ill health, but adjustments should be made where your health makes it harder to manage your affairs³⁴. HMRC can also register a friend or relative to help with your tax if you need extra support and cannot use its online services³⁵.

If you know about tax fraud by someone else, you can fill in the online form to tell HMRC what you know about the person or business³⁶. For wider money worries, debt explains the free help available, and scams and fraud covers the other common scams. If your complaint is about HMRC's own service rather than a scam, how to complain about HMRC explains the route.