Guidance

Complain about serious misconduct by HM Revenue and Customs staff

How to complain about serious misconduct by HMRC staff and how your complaint will be dealt with.

HMRC considers serious misconduct by members of its staff to be criminal or near criminal behaviour and take these complaints very seriously.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct oversees the way HMRC deals with these complaints.

Serious misconduct includes:

  • assault leading to death or serious injury
  • corruption
  • fraud
  • unauthorised disclosure of customer information

How to make a complaint

You will need to give HMRC as much information as possible, including:

  • your full name and address
  • your reference number (for example National Insurance number, tax reference, VAT number or employer reference)
  • what went wrong
  • when it happened
  • who you dealt with
  • what effect HMRC’s actions had on you
  • how you’d like HMRC to resolve the matter

Sending your complaint

Write ‘The manager’ on the front of the envelope.

Find HMRC contact details for the relevant department.

There is a different address for courier deliveries to HMRC.

How your complaint will be dealt with

HMRC will arrange for your complaint to be reviewed by someone who has not been involved before. They will contact you if they need more information.

When HMRC have reviewed your complaint they will write to you with their response and a timescale to resolve it in.

Taking your complaint further

There is a right of appeal in certain cases that have been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

Published 1 December 2014
Last updated 6 February 2020 + show all updates
  1. The way you send your complaint to HMRC has changed.

  2. Added the contact address for complaints about serious misconduct.

  3. First published.