HMRC admits £47 million loss in breach of taxpayer accounts
Taxpayers who are being affected will suffer 'no financial loss', according to John-Paul Marks, the chief executive of HMRC, the UK's tax authority.
Mr Marks told the Committee: 'It's about 0.2% of the PAYE population, around 100,000 people, who we have written to, are writing to, to notify them that we detected activity on their PAYE account.'
Asked if this applied to individual working people's PAYE accounts, not companies, he replied: 'That's right, individuals. To be clear, no financial loss to those individuals.
Mr Marks added: 'This was organised crime phishing for identity data outwith of HMRC systems, so stuff that banks and others will also unfortunately experience, and then trying to use that data to create PAYE accounts to pay themselves a repayment and/or access an existing account.'
An investigation into the matter, which took place last year 'including jurisdictions outside the UK', led to 'some arrests last year,' Mr Marks told MPs.
Angela MacDonald, HMRC's deputy chief executive and second permanent secretary, added: 'At the moment, they've managed to extract repayments to the tune of £47 million.
'Now that is a lot of money, and it's very unacceptable.
'We have overall, in the last tax year, we actually protected £1.9 billion worth of money which sought to be taken from us by attacks.'
Get your tax return done early and find out sooner if you're owed money. ⏲️
We'll let you know if you've overpaid tax after you file your Self-Assessment tax return and refund you. 💷
File today. 👇 https://t.co/OIh3mAczQk pic.twitter.com/vbmz1AjfKK
Ms MacDonald stressed the breach was 'not a cyber attack, we have not been hacked, we have not had data extracted from us'.
She later added: 'The ability for somebody to breach your systems and to extract data, to hold you to ransomware and all of those things, that is a cyber attack. That is not what has happened here.'
HMRC said it had locked down affected accounts and deleted log-in details to prevent future unauthorised access.
Any incorrect information has been removed from tax records and officials have checked to ensure no other details have been changed.
People affected will receive a letter from HMRC over the next three weeks.
Elsewhere, Mr Marks told MPs that HMRC phone lines were down on Wednesday afternoon, but said this was 'coincidental'.
They will be 'back up and available in the morning', he added.
Recommended reading:
An HMRC spokesperson said: 'We've acted to protect customers after identifying attempts to access a very small minority of tax accounts, and we're working with other law enforcement agencies both in the UK and overseas to bring those responsible to justice.
'This was not a cyber-attack – it involved criminals using personal information from phishing activity or data obtained elsewhere to try to claim money from HMRC.
'We're writing to those customers affected to reassure them we've secured their accounts and that they haven't lost any money.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Man killed on North Yorkshire road he campaigned to make safer
Tributes have been paid to a former councillor who was killed on a road he had campaigned to make Michael Duggan, 81, died in hospital after a collision between his car and a skip lorry on Friday morning on a section of the A19 he had previously highlighted as being Stephanie Duckett described Mr Duggan as a "fantastic" man who was "very passionate" about the village of Riccall, between Selby and said: "He was very much Mr Riccall, anything he could do he would for that village. "John was one of those people who once you met him, you didn't forget him. When he walked into a room everybody knew straight away he was there."He was a brilliant man and loyal friend."Mr Duggan was joining the A19 northbound at Riccall from the York Road junction when his Nissan Juke collided with a driver, a 42-year-old man from York, was arrested at the scene and was assisting officers with enquiries, according to North Yorkshire a parish councillor for Riccall, Mr Duggan had petitioned for changes to the layout of the A19 through the village as far back as 2007 and had called for a roundabout to be told the York Press newspaper in August that year that a junction on the road had been the site of numerous accidents and two said: "The stretch of the A19 that runs past Riccall is one of the fastest sections of the road, and the speed of traffic using this section is totally unacceptable to local people who are trying to enter and exit the village."Ms Duckett said, despite his death occurring on the next junction along to the one Mr Duggan had raised concerns about in the past, the road remained a concern."That road is tremendously busy and every year traffic just seems to multiply," she said."At one point there was money for the roundabout and it was never built and the cost now is just in the millions to do the same project."I honestly don't think it's every going to get done."Mr Duggan was elected to the Riccall ward of Selby Council with the Labour party in 2022 he stood for Camblesforth and Carlton in the North Yorkshire Council local election but lost to Conservative councillor Mike Jordan. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Telegraph
9 hours ago
- Telegraph
Retirees pull billions from pension pots to escape Reeves's tax raid
Middle-class Britons risk a retirement 'disaster' after a record £5bn was pulled from pension pots in the wake of Rachel Reeves's inheritance tax raid. Official figures showed 672,000 retirees, representing roughly 5pc of all pensioners, pulled £5bn from their pots in the first three months of this year. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said the amount taken from retirement funds was 25pc higher than the same quarter a year ago, with 13pc more people withdrawing money. It means withdrawals during the period were the highest since George Osborne introduced pension freedoms a decade ago. It comes after the Chancellor announced in her maiden Budget last October that pension pots would no longer be exempt from inheritance tax from April 2027, making them subject to a levy of up to 40pc. Baroness Altmann, a former Tory pensions minister, urged the Chancellor to reverse the policy, warning that many more people would choose to withdraw money from their retirement pot as soon as possible, creating a 'pensioner poverty time bomb'. Sweeping changes mean retirees can now withdraw unlimited amounts from their pot as soon as they hit 55. The figures also revealed a 50pc increase in the number of octogenarians taking money out of their pensions over the course of last year with the amount withdrawn by those aged 81 and over up by 80pc to £360m. 'It's a disaster' The Chancellor hopes to raise £1.5bn from her decision to bring pensions within the scope of inheritance tax. Pension withdrawals from defined contribution pots above the 25pc tax-free lump sum incur an income tax charge of 20pc for basic rate taxpayers and a 40pc levy at the higher rate. The changes mean heirs will be subject to both inheritance and income tax at the marginal rate from 2027. 'It's a disaster,' Lady Altmann said, adding that she expected withdrawals to accelerate as more people became aware of the looming inheritance tax charge. She added that the 'draconian' way the policy was introduced was storing up a crisis for the future, and said she was pushing for changes in the Lords that would see beneficiaries charged a maximum 20pc 'pension recovery tax' instead on inherited pots. Lady Altmann said: 'This policy could end up being as damaging to workplace pensions as Gordon Brown's tax rate was for DB [defined benefit] pensions. 'I honestly think this is an existential threat to the long-term survival of our DC [defined contribution] pensions, because there's a clear incentive to take the money out as soon as you possibly can.' She added that this would leave many middle-class families in danger of not leaving themselves enough to fund their retirement. Lady Altmann said: 'This IHT [inheritance tax] imposition will ensure that more and more people – especially those who don't have massive amounts of money – will just say, 'Why on earth would I want to lose two thirds of my pension to the taxman? I'll just take it out as soon as I can.' 'Those who build up, say, between £200,000 and £300,000 over their working life are now in danger of having a real financial incentive not to keep money in their pensions for their later life and then end up in poverty.' 'Taking a big hit' Guy Opperman, another former pensions minister, said: 'Pensions are taking a big hit from the Government's actions. 'The consequences of this policy are clear: people will save less for their pension and will withdraw more. This will also affect the ability to pass money on. There is time for the Government to think again and they should. It is very short-term.' Jamie Jenkins, director of policy at pensions giant Royal London, which manages more than £170bn of client cash, said there was already clear evidence that people were changing their retirement planning ahead of the changes. He said: 'There is increased interest from advisers and their clients in how they can mitigate the potential inheritance tax bill.' Claire Trott, at wealth managers St James's Place, added: 'Every individual's circumstances are different, but IHT changes to pensions have certainly triggered more conversations about gifting strategies and whether it makes sense to start drawing from pensions earlier.' An HM Treasury spokesman said: 'We continue to incentivise pensions savings for their intended purpose – of funding retirement instead of them being openly used as a vehicle to transfer wealth – and more than 90pc of estates each year will continue to pay no inheritance tax after these and other changes.'
Western Telegraph
15 hours ago
- Western Telegraph
HMRC sending letters to 1.4 million Brits who need to pay up
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) issues the routine letters every year to people who need to pay tax on their income that has not been taxed through Pay As You Earn (PAYE) or Self Assessment. The letters provide a detailed assessment of unpaid tax on income above the annual personal allowance and guidance on how customers can pay tax owed. Download the HMRC app to manage your money easily. When you're on it, you're on it. Download today. 👇 — HM Revenue & Customs (@HMRCgovuk) July 29, 2025 A Simple Assessment can be issued for a number of reasons, including where: There is tax to pay on interest on savings or dividends Customers received more tax-free allowances than they were entitled to Customers have a second income they haven't paid tax on Too little tax has been paid Tax is due to be paid on pension income If customers receive a letter either through the post or online in their Personal Tax Account, they can go to to find out more, check the assessment against their own records and pay any tax owed. The payment deadline is 31 January 2026, unless an alternative date is stated in the letter. Simple Assessment payments can be made in full, or in instalments before the deadline. Payments can be made using the free and secure HMRC app, online via by bank transfer or cheque. A full list of payment methods can be found on HMRC has produced a detailed guide to help pensioners understand their Simple Assessment. Simple Assessment letters are automatically generated and sent to customers when HMRC receives information from employers, Department for Work and Pensions, customers themselves and from banks, building societies and financial institutions that shows tax is due. Recommended reading: Anyone who believes an error has been made in the assessment should get in touch with HMRC within 60 days to query it. More information on how to contact HMRC is available on If HMRC agrees an assessment was incorrect, customers will be sent an updated letter with details of how to pay by the deadline. If HMRC believes the assessment was correct, customers can go to to appeal within 30 days of the date of the decision letter.
