Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of consumer protection regulation for individuals submitting tax rebate applications to HMRC through accounting companies.

The Government is committed to maintaining trust in the tax system and working with taxpayers to help them get their tax right. However, the Government is aware that some taxpayers face issues and feel misled when using companies that specialise in claiming tax refunds from HMRC.

The Government is working with regulators and other key partners to ensure that the current legal framework is robust in prohibiting harmful business practices to consumer contracts. This includes introducing expectations of transparency in the HMRC Standard for Agents, updated in January 2023, to ensure customers are made aware of the agent’s fees and charging structure.

There are many ways in which a customer can authorise a third party to act on their behalf. HMRC is also developing options for a more modern and secure approach to agent authorisation.

HMRC continues to monitor tax agents and challenge them when there are potential concerns about their practices. HMRC then takes action by either issuing penalties, suspending claims or refusing to deal with an agent, and wherever necessary working with the Police to support their investigations.