HMRC doubles size of tax evasion surveillance team

Article contents:

**Tax office ramps up staff training and AI snooping in fresh fraud crackdown**

*By Tom Haynes, Money Reporter, 11 Sep 2025 – 06:00AM BST*

HM Revenues and Customs (HMRC) has doubled the number of staff trained in tax evasion surveillance, new data shows.

Some 337 workers were trained in tax evasion in the 2023-24 year at a cost of £580,403, according to figures released by a Freedom of Information request.

This was up from 171 in 2021-22, costing £524,940.

Surveillance staff have the power to conduct “drive-bys” on individuals and businesses suspected of tax fraud, including at premises and properties, as well as run test purchases of goods or services offered by a company.

Overall, the number of staff working for HMRC’s fraud investigation service has fallen slightly in the past three years, from 4,830 in 2021-22 to 4,820 by 2023-24.

However, the proportion of workers being trained in surveillance shot up.

HMRC also spent £316,816 training 196 staff members in criminal foundation, while 2,179 employees were trained in public and personal safety skills. A further 168 staff received courtroom skills training.
It comes as HMRC ramps up its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor taxpayers. In August, The Telegraph reported that the taxman used AI to screen taxpayers’ social media accounts for signs of fraud.

Consumer champion Martyn James said: “Anyone who has attempted to navigate the horrors of the HMRC system in the past year or two is likely to be outraged by the funds that the taxman is spending on spying on its customers.

“The irony of all this is the money spent on snooping, if reinvested in customer service or making HMRC run efficiently, could save them much more – and allow people to understand precisely what tax they have to pay.

“Right now, the sheer frustration of trying to understand how HMRC’s labyrinthine tax system, overly fussy website and incomprehensible demands for cash is driving many small businesses to distraction. It’s about time HMRC was run like a business accountable to customers and shareholders.”

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said:“HMRC seems more interested in snooping on taxpayers than serving them. Instead of ramping up the spy tactics, HMRC should be focusing on improving customer service and making life easier for taxpayers.”

HMRC has faced frequent criticism this year over a long-term decline in the standard of service.
In 2022-23, the most recent year for which figures are available, HMRC spent £881m on customer service, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

The following year, HMRC faced criticism for closing or reducing the queries it handled on four helplines, and shut off its self-assessment helpline for three months, releasing 350 staff.

A report by the NAO found the tax office “gave stakeholders little notice of service reductions, and some organisations providing tax advice faced increased demand from taxpayers”.

Data this week revealed that tax office employees took half a million sick days in the past three years.
However, some experts welcomed the increased investment in surveillance.

Dr Janet Bastiman, of tech firm Napier AI, said: “With financial crime and money laundering on the rise, ramping up tailored training to enable HMRC staff to identify fraudsters and tax evaders is a necessary investment.”

Kenny MacAulay, of accountancy software planning platform, Acting Office, said: “The resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister underlines the complexity of Britain’s tax law, and the serious consequences of getting it wrong.

“For accounting practices, the deluge of new regulations, requirements and protocols means that one bad decision could lead to severe reputational damage and loss of customer trust.”

A spokesman for HMRC said: “We’re protecting more tax revenue from error and fraud than ever before and, as part of the Plan for Change, the Government is delivering the most ambitious package ever to go even further and bring in an extra £7.5bn for public services per year by 2029-30.

“This includes investing in an extra 5,500 compliance officers and modernising our IT systems to better target our work.”

They are going to focus on the massive corporate tax evasion, and not just bring the hammer down on individuals who might owe a couple of hundred right?

Right?

‘blah, blah, blah’ article from HMRC hating Telegraph – HMRC don’t address tax evaders then they are shit, but if HMRC does address tax evaders then they are shit – FFS make up your mind.

That’s good, but most probably they will go after the easy, small fish. The ones that either cannot or don’t know how to defend themselves, are not great at evasion and don’t have the right connections.

There’s a lot of Labour politicians HMRC need to keep an eye on if Rayner is an example of the quality of the Labour Party membership.

It’s worth pointing out these stats are for all of HMRC, not just people lying on self assessment.

HMRC’s remit includes dealing with smuggling (especially of excise goods like cigarettes and alcohol) and money laundering. Both of which, as you may imagine, often involve surveillance in investigations.

Good. Also make the fines for evasion even tougher, one standard fine that is doubled for every year of tax evasion that can be proven. Make the losses outweigh any potential gains.

Reddit: Tradesmen who take cash in hand are avoiding VAT and are morally bankrupt.

Also reddit: Ah I bet they’ll only go after the poor little fish.

I hope HMRC goes after the big fish too but is this not what everyone here wanted?

Focusing purely on small business owners I’m sure, wouldn’t want to ruffle any feathers with the super rich.

Yet gov won’t make income tax and dividend tax the same rates.

Most rich people do not pay income tax but instead go through corp or dividend tax which is a lot less than income tax

The amount of times I listen to people boasting about avoiding tax but in the same breath complain how gutted the infrastructure is.

Typically from right wing haters.