Corporate report

HMRC compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duties: 2025 to 2026

Published 9 July 2026

About this report

The information in this report is required by Regulation 2 of the Equality Act Specific Duty Regulations (SI 2011/2260). It:

• shows how the department complies with the Public Sector Equality Duty in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010
• covers the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026
• summarises our progress against our equality objectives for 2024 to 2028

HMRC equality objectives 2024 to 2028

HMRC has 3 equality objectives for 2024 to 2028. They are to become a more inclusive, respectful and representative organisation. They apply to our work with customers and as an employer. Our equality objectives help us to be an employer of choice and support HMRC’s strategic objectives, as well as complying with statutory obligations.

For further information, see HMRC’s equality objectives for 2024 to 2028.

Driving improvements for customers

Delivering on our Public Sector Equality Duty commitments is a key component of our drive to deliver excellent customer service. In 2025, the appointment of Myrtle Lloyd as HMRC’s first Chief Customer Officer marked a pivotal shift in how HMRC approaches customer experience. This is the first such role at this level across government, and it signals a bold ambition: to embed customer-centricity across all HMRC’s operations and strategy.

We are committed to meeting our Charter Standards across all our services. We see the Charter as central to delivering a good customer experience and guiding improvements. Engaging the independent Adjudicator and acting on feedback, we have shaped our ongoing plans for embedding the Charter into all activities.

There is also an Extra Support for Customers (governance) Group, responsible for:

• the assurance of enterprise level activity to ensure HMRC appropriately supports customers who need extra help, as set out in our published principles of support for customers who need extra help and the HMRC Charter
• commissioning customer and operational insight to ensure HMRC has a good understanding of the population who need extra help, how best to support customers, and our operational performance — the Group ensures that delivery decisions on extra support are evidence based

Customer-focused activities

Research and insight

To help ensure we consider the needs of customers in all that we do, HMRC commissions research and insight to understand customer impacts. Research published between April 2025 and March 2026 is attached at Annex A.

HMRC also use operational data and external stakeholder insight to help improve our customer experience, in line with our Charter standards.

During 2025 to 2026, HMRC improved telephony and correspondence performance, with a higher proportion of calls answered, reduced waiting times and improved response rates for priority correspondence compared with the previous year.

For example, the average speed of answer reduced to 12 minutes 35 seconds from 18 minutes 38 seconds in 2024 to 2025, and the proportion of callers who got through to an advisor (advisor attempts handled) reached 85.1%, meeting our 85% service standard, an improvement on the 71.5% in 2024 to 2025. This reflects targeted action to reduce demand, increase capacity and strengthen service delivery.

Training

In line with our Charter standards we continue to strengthen colleague front-line capability through Operational Delivery Profession learning (3,800 staff trained), and this year we introduced AI-led interactive simulation Debt Management training to 1,890 colleagues, improving empathy, consistency and handling of complex or vulnerable customer scenarios.

Assessing the impact of our policies and projects

We have published 10 Equality Impacts Assessments during this period. Details are attached at Annex B.

We have also assessed the equality impacts of 230 different projects this year.

Customer Services Group (CSG) embeds continuous evaluation into service design and delivery, using insight, testing and feedback to assess the effectiveness of changes. Initiatives such as Self-Assessment ‘sandboxes’, (a controlled and isolated environment to experiment, test ideas and gather insight), allow us to test improvements safely and understand how changes affect customer experience before wider rollout.

Support for customers including those who need extra help

Our Extra Support Teams provide tailored support for customers who need extra help, including those in vulnerable circumstances. Additionally, there are several new and ongoing initiatives to support colleagues further:

Interactive guidance

In April 2025 we launched HMRC’s new Interactive Compliance Guidance tool to help businesses and individuals understand HMRC compliance checks followed by a new and improved more user-friendly version in October 2025. Customers can now access a more tailored experience, ensuring they only see guidance that is relevant to their needs, and educational materials to help them take better control of their money and tax.

Expansion of the Child Benefit online claim service

Around 600,000 Child Benefit customers each year can now confirm education status online using clear prompts and QR codes. Digital take up increased from 375,000 in 2024 to 481,000 in 2025 (18%), reducing peak processing from a month to a few days and easing pressure on frontline teams.

Support for customers undergoing compliance checks

Our work has focused on how HMRC can better prepare customers for the conclusion of a compliance check particularly supporting customers through the process and then ensuring that they are suitably informed and encouraged to meet their tax obligations going forward. This involved enhancing our guidance, processes and systems. Customers have also been supported for major changes such as Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment. Service performance continues to improve supported by Surge Rapid Response Teams to maintain service during peak periods.

To support colleagues a range of Training is available:

• our Extra Support Masterclass has been updated to include real world customer scenarios to improve learning. The Masterclass is mandatory for all new caseworkers and available on request for existing colleagues. We have also developed some additional short learning videos as additional resources. All of our learning supports colleagues to recognise a customer who may need extra help and the ways they can be supported during compliance activity
• we have team learning in place for all new Extra Support Team members including external training for example from Samaritans and Surviving Economic Abuse — this approach supports colleagues with the skills and knowledge to provide bespoke advice when a referral is made
• where compliance checks may be particularly sensitive, high-profile, or if customers may need extra support, tailored learning and support is provided for colleagues — examples of the teams who have received this support include Loan Charge, Property Avoidance, Attack Against the System (AAS) and Pension Liberation teams

User research for Interactive Guidance showed that customers value clear, bitesize content that is easy to understand. Building on this insight, we partnered with other organisations via our Customer Experience Advisory Group to enhance the existing Compliance Check YouTube series. Two new videos have now been co-created and published, covering Help and Support available to vulnerable customers and those with extra needs during the compliance process.

We have also strengthened extra support services, alongside targeted improvements such as enhanced support to bereaved customers (with 84% satisfaction) and earlier, affordability-based Time to Pay decisions to reduce financial stress to those in debt to HMRC.

Enhancements to the Self-serve Time to Pay service

Simple Assessment Self-Serve Time to Pay (SSTTP) introduces the ability to check eligibility and set up payment plans online, without needing to contact HMRC. Over 8,500 customers have used the service to arrange £17.9m in plans, reducing avoidable contact and enabling colleagues to provide support for more complex and vulnerable cases.

Following internal audit findings, HMRC has addressed disjointed and delayed Time to Pay (TTP) decision making. TTP Admin has been introduced to improve the consistency and timeliness of TTP decisions, which had previously led to debts progressing into enforcement. Of the 228 TTP cases reviewed, 86% were successfully maintained and completed, reducing aged debt and avoidable operational workload.

Transformation of the VAT DIY Housebuilders Scheme

HMRC has transformed a 47-year paper process into a digital first service, cutting claim times from 565 days to 30, enabling 75% digital submissions, reducing complaints, and saving £329,000 annually.

Advances with Webchat

Payments in webchat have been introduced allowing customers to make secure payments removing friction, improving accessibility and removing need for follow up contact. In the first three months of operation, 939 payments totalling £2.73 million, were completed with 93% customer satisfaction.

Our Extra Support Team helps people who need extra support according to their needs, including those who are vulnerable. Types of support have included:

• specialist phone or webchat service investigating and calling customers back about more complex queries. The service offer here was expanded from two tax areas to nine
• providing alternative formats for over 64,195 customers during 2025 to 2026, including large print, Braille, audio, and plain text on CD
• face to face appointments at the customers home, Regional Centre or DWP office a total of 865
• a partnership with the Samaritans to transfer vulnerable customers to them for emotional support
• upskilled colleagues working closely with Money Advice Trust to provide additional tools and support for vulnerable customers
• webchat — CSAT 4933 surveys at 70%, 4933 Net Easy at 36% and Once and Done 4919 at 67% serving 30797 customers
• total number of calls inbound 52,922, outbound 32,601, total post clearances of 46,354

This is not a definitive list and during the year a total of 227,734 customers received support.

The Extra Support team has grown from 137 staff in post in April 2025 to 144 in April 2026. The Extra Support resource and service offer will continue to grow as we progress toward our digital first ambition, to ensure no one is left behind.

Language services

We support accessibility by improving the clarity and usability of guidance and services, including consolidating complex information into single, accessible formats such as the Insolvency Digital Handbook, helping practitioners to better understand and complete tasks.

HMRC also provides clear access routes and supportive help for customers requesting translation and interpreting services via ‘The Big Word’ who deliver Language Services which include written translations, transcriptions video relay services and others.

From April 2025 to March 2026, our Welsh Language Unit translated over 2.8 million words into Welsh.

Our Welsh language customer service colleagues received more than:

• 14,000 phone calls
• 954 emails
• 10,432 letters, forms, and cases in Welsh
• £2,016,398.31 in telephone payments

Customer satisfaction for our main Welsh language helpline reached 90%, alongside 97% quality in our written Welsh content. Since introducing bilingual marketing campaigns to promote the HMRC app in the last 12 months, we have also seen a reduction in calls to our main Welsh language helpline.

The Welsh Language Commissioner publishes a 5-year report on the state of the Welsh language, Our time to act, setting out priorities and best practice to help the language thrive. We’re delighted that HMRC has been included in this year’s report for our work on launching the bilingual HMRC app. Our contribution appears on pages 274 to 276.

Digital accessibility

To ensure our digital services continue to be usable, accessible, and inclusive, we continue to research our services with users of assistive technology throughout the service design and delivery process. Building on previous years’ focus on understanding barriers through research and data, in 2025 to 2026 we have progressed our approach by gathering training needs from the User Research community and developing targeted training by running accessible research sessions.

We continue to expand our engagement with charities and community organisations to deepen our understanding of users’ needs and support the recruitment of more diverse participants for research. This work continues to strengthen insight into lived experiences and informs the inclusive design and delivery of our digital services.

Building on the development of our internal research panel we continue to strengthen how colleagues with declared access needs are identified and engaged in research activity. In 2025 to 2026, this included piloting new internal channels to promote and recruit to the panel, leading to increased awareness and uptake across the organisation.

Further to the introduction of the stronger controls established in previous years, we continue to take a robust and consistent approach to the procurement of software and services for use by HMRC colleagues. Accessibility considerations remain an integral part of commercial and procurement activity, supporting the ongoing selection of accessible solutions across the organisation.

We know that many of our customers struggle to understand the basics when it comes to tax, and this can lead to overwhelm and confusion when dealing with HMRC. To address this tax education gap, we launched a new Tax Confident website in March 2026. Structured around life moments, from starting a first job, to setting up a business and retirement, Tax Confident is full of simple explanations, videos and worked examples to help explain the basics, simply. So that no matter what stage our customers are at, they can feel tax confident.

Reasonable adjustments

HMRC’s Reasonable Adjustments Policy demonstrates how disabled customers are supported, including those who are neurodivergent. To assist customer facing colleagues, a guide to the broad range of Reasonable Adjustments that are available was launched across HMRC in February. Colleagues are always expected to take individual circumstances into account and implement reasonable adjustments whenever appropriate, so that customers are not disadvantaged when accessing our services or raising complaints. This aligns closely with our Charter commitments and principles for supporting those who need extra help.

Customer complaints

HMRC is strongly committed to fulfilling its legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty. We strive to ensure that all aspects of our service — including complaint handling — are both accessible and fair for every customer. As a public body, we fully consider our Public Sector Equality Duty responsibilities when making decisions or implementing changes. This includes impacts on customers, handling and resolving complaints, providing guidance and training, and maintaining comprehensive documentation. Our aim is to treat all customers consistently and equitably.

The complaints process at HMRC is intentionally designed to be flexible, to enable complaints to be addressed in ways that accommodate each customer’s unique needs and circumstances. Colleagues benefit from guidance and training to help them recognise when additional support is needed and to provide reasonable adjustments throughout the complaints journey. This includes how we communicate with customers and how complaints are progressed. Importantly, insights gained from complaints are used to drive improvements to our guidance and processes.

We use complaint insight to identify root causes and drive targeted improvements; for example, remedial action on Self-Assessment repayments reduced complaints by 35%, while AI-enabled tools now support complaint handling, improving efficiency and consistency

Working with external stakeholders and customers

We work with more than 100 stakeholder groups to:

• build supportive, trusted and professional relationships
• draw on their knowledge and expertise to drive continuous improvement across HMRC

HMRC is very grateful for the continued support and engagement of all our stakeholders. Some examples include:

Individual Stakeholder Forum

The Individual Stakeholder Forum is HMRC’s primary external consultation forum for Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations representing individual customers. The forum helps us to better understand the needs and experiences of our diverse customer base. Meetings typically combine presentations from HMRC policy and operational colleagues with discussion of topical issues, policy or process changes, and matters raised by forum members.

Additional Needs Working Group

The Additional Needs Working Group provides support and constructive challenge to planned changes, helping to ensure that the impacts on customers with additional needs are fully considered. It also offers a forum to exchange perspectives on customer requirements and concerns, supporting delivery of HMRC’s customerfocused equality objectives.

Customer Experience Advisory Group

Customer Experience Advisory Group (CEAG) is a joint working group through which HMRC collaborates with external representative bodies to consult on live projects and emerging issues. Its primary aim is cocreation: working together to design and shape compliance journey improvements and develop practical solutions that improve the customer experience and help customers get their tax right. Over the past 12 months, CEAG has cocreated and influenced major CCG initiatives, including the Digital Disclosure Service, and the Litigation and Settlement Strategy rewrite.

Working with Voluntary and Community Sector organisations

Alongside wider engagement across the sector, HMRC provides grant funding to selected charitable organisations to extend our reach and support customers who may not otherwise approach the department directly. HMRC’s grant funding programme has operated for many years, in line with Cabinet Office grant guidelines, and is delivered through a competitive selection process to identify successful VCS partners.

The current 2024 to 2027 grant funding scheme began on 1 April 2024 and supports 12 organisations, with total funding of £5.5 million over the 3-year period. We continue to work closely with these organisations to reach customers who need additional support with HMRC services, and to build insight that can be embedded in future policy and service design.

During the second year of the 2024 to 2027 programme, funded VCS organisations supported more than 42,000 customers to resolve issues and meet their tax obligations through a range of channels, including telephony, email and face-to-face support. In addition, HMRC maintains a 3-year commercial contract with the Samaritans to provide specialist training and a dedicated helpline for customers requiring emotional support.

In 2025 to 2026, we started the work to prepare for the next round of funding. As a result, HMRC has committed to doubling funding for the 2027 to 2030 HMRC Voluntary and Community Grant funding programme to £11.1 million over the 3-year period.

Colleague‑focused activities

During this reporting period, HMRC’s equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activity has focused on increasing diversity at senior grades, improving disability equality outcomes and experiences, and addressing bullying, harassment and discrimination (BHD). These priorities have guided activity alongside HMRC’s routine embedding of equality and progress towards longer-term equality objectives.

As an employer, HMRC continues to integrate EDI considerations across its people policies and processes, learning and development provision, and internal communications.

HMRC’s approach to EDI is underpinned by evidence and insight. Applicants and colleagues are invited to voluntarily and confidentially record their personal diversity characteristics. This information is collated, anonymised, and continues to be used to monitor progress within HMRC, as well as to benchmark against other government departments and external organisations.

We analyse colleague experience across all equality protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010 (such as disability, race and sexual orientation), alongside caring responsibilities and socioeconomic background, to help identify key challenges. This analysis, considered alongside HMRC’s strategic priorities, informs our Public Sector Equality Duty equality objectives. Priorities are agreed under each objective and progress is reviewed at least annually. Senior oversight and leadership are provided by HMRC’s Executive Committee.

To support colleagues to take a data-led, outcome-focused approach to EDI consistently across the department, HMRC continues to provide a self-service diversity data tool, with continuous improvements to enhance functionality and user experience.

All colleagues are expected to live HMRC’s values and uphold conduct standards through their day-to-day behaviours, embedding equality considerations into everyday actions. Where specific equality activity is undertaken, support is in place to ensure activity is legally compliant, aligned to strategic objectives, and evaluated for impact, including value for money for the taxpayer.

Policies and guidance

Alongside compliance with UK employment legislation, HMRC maintains policies and guidance to enable colleagues to challenge behaviour that does not meet expected standards, request and apply reasonable adjustments, ensure information and documents are accessible, and consider the equality impacts of decisions.

The department continues to provide a wide range of flexible working options and support to help colleagues balance work and personal responsibilities, including flexible working arrangements and career breaks. HMRC also supports colleague voice and engagement through its staff diversity networks, providing opportunities to offer peer support and contribute to a more inclusive organisational culture.

During this reporting period, HMRC has implemented all legislative developments including changes to Statutory Sick Pay, family friendly support and preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. It has continued to meet its Public Sector Equality Duty obligations and worked to provide a safe, respectful and inclusive working environment that enables colleagues to deliver for our customers. HMRC recognises the importance of these responsibilities and continues to ensure that our employment framework and organisational expectations are legally compliant and support colleagues effectively.

Learning and development

Equality considerations are built into HMRC’s learning and development offer for colleagues at all levels. Learning is provided to ensure colleagues understand their rights and responsibilities in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion, and are clear about the standards of behaviour expected across the department.

Learning activity supports inclusive leadership, improves understanding of protected characteristics, and promotes respectful workplace behaviours, enabling colleagues to apply Public Sector Equality Duties considerations appropriately within their roles.

Communications

HMRC promotes its commitment to equality and inclusion through a range of internal communication channels. Communications are used to reinforce an inclusive culture, raise awareness of EDI priorities and equality objectives, and encourage colleagues to act so that inclusion is embedded in everyday working practices. Communications also direct colleagues to relevant support, guidance and resources where needed.

Annex: Diversity declaration and representation rates

The following tables show the diversity of HMRC’s workforce, as of 31 March 2026. The tables show anonymised and aggregated colleague data. Any data that could potentially identify an individual is suppressed.

Diversity data is voluntarily self-declared by colleagues. The ‘known’ representation rate reflects the proportion of colleagues identifying as having a particular diversity characteristic, as a proportion of all colleagues who have recorded a status for that characteristic. Percentages exclude colleagues that have declared that they do not wish to record that characteristic and colleagues that have not provided any information. The ‘declaration rate’ is the percentage of all colleagues that recorded something against that characteristic, including ‘choose not to declare’.

The data labels used in the tables reflect the administrative categories of employees rather than self-defined language.

All figures are rounded to the nearest %.

Table A: Representation and declaration rates — disability

Grade	Disabled	Non-disabled	Chose not to declare	Not known	Known disabled	Disability declaration
HMRC overall	10%	59%	5%	26%	14%	74%
SCS	6%	79%	4%	11%	7%	89%
G6	9%	72%	5%	13%	11%	87%
G7	11%	67%	6%	16%	14%	84%
SO	10%	66%	5%	19%	13%	81%
HO	10%	61%	5%	24%	14%	76%
O	9%	60%	4%	27%	13%	73%
AO	10%	48%	4%	38%	17%	62%
AA	16%	46%	5%	33%	26%	67%

Table B: Representation and declaration rates — ethnicity

Grade	Ethnic minority	White	Chose not to declare	Not known	Known ethnic minority	Ethnicity declaration
HMRC overall	18%	59%	3%	21%	23%	79%
SCS	10%	78%	3%	10%	11%	90%
G6	10%	76%	4%	10%	12%	91%
G7	13%	71%	4%	12%	15%	88%
SO	14%	69%	4%	13%	17%	87%
HO	18%	61%	3%	18%	23%	82%
O	22%	54%	2%	21%	29%	79%
AO	18%	48%	2%	32%	28%	68%
AA	7%	67%	4%	22%	9%	78%

Table C: Representation and declaration rates — religion or belief

Grade	Declared religion	No religion or belief	Chose not to declare	Not assigned	Religion or belief declaration rate
HMRC overall	36%	26%	7%	31%	69%
SCS	38%	39%	8%	15%	85%
G6	41%	33%	8%	18%	82%
G7	38%	33%	9%	21%	80%
SO	39%	30%	8%	23%	77%
HO	36%	28%	8%	28%	72%
O	38%	25%	6%	32%	68%
AO	32%	19%	5%	44%	56%
AA	32%	10%	5%	54%	46%

Table D: Representation and declaration rates — sexual orientation

Grade	Lesbian, gay, bisexual and other (note 1)	Heterosexual	Chose not to declare	Not known	Sexual orientation declaration
HMRC overall	5%	60%	6%	28%	72%
SCS	6%	76%	6%	12%	88%
G6	5%	73%	8%	14%	86%
G7	5%	70%	8%	17%	83%
SO	5%	69%	7%	20%	80%
HO	5%	63%	7%	25%	75%
O	5%	60%	6%	29%	71%
AO	5%	48%	5%	41%	59%
AA	2%	43%	7%	47%	53%

Note 1: ‘Lesbian, gay, bisexual and other’ includes people who categorised their sexual orientation as gay man, gay woman/lesbian, bisexual or ‘other’.

Table E: Representation — sex (note 2)

Grade	Female	Male
HMRC overall	52%	48%
SCS	42%	58%
G6	45%	55%
G7	47%	53%
SO	50%	50%
HO	49%	51%
O	52%	48%
AO	58%	42%
AA	64%	36%

Note 2: Data on sex is recorded at the point of employment for all colleagues, so the declaration rate is 100%. [Where is ‘Note 2’ on the table?]

Annex A:

Research

Understanding experiences of dealing with Corporation Tax — published April 2025

Analysis of the drivers of trust in HMRC — published May 2025

Research exploring VAT repayment methods — published May 2025

Exploring changes to safety and security declaration requirements — published May 2025

Research exploring the impact of border check — published May 2025

Self Assessment campaign tracker (2023 to 2024) — published November 2025

Self Assessment campaign tracker (2024 to 2025) — published November 2025

Digital Channel Shift Campaign Evaluation 2024 to 2025 — published November 2025

MTD for Income Tax – agents’ preparedness (headline findings) — published November 2025

Research exploring how businesses manage access to HMRC online services — published January 2026

Historic borders and trade research reports backlog

Exploring smaller traders’ experiences of the customs onboarding process (fieldwork June to August 2023)

Research into experiences of traders moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland (fieldwork March to June 2021)

Exploring supply chain arrangements of Northern Ireland businesses trading with Great Britain (fieldwork August to Sept 2020)

Research to explore UK Borders’ Future Operating Model (fieldwork March to April 2021 (stage 1) and October to November 2021 (stage 2))

A screening survey of non VAT-registered businesses in Northern Ireland (fieldwork July to September 2020)

Trader and intermediary communications testing on UK transition (fieldwork October to November 2020)

Future customs processes research (fieldwork August to September 2020)

Customs Declaration (CDS) communications research (fieldwork August to September 2018)

Qualitative research on trader behaviour (fieldwork September to November 2018)

Business readiness for a Day 1 No-deal EU Exit in March 2019 — waves 1 to 3 (fieldwork January to March 2019)

Business readiness for a Day 1 No-deal EU Exit in March 2019 — waves 4 to 6 (fieldwork July to September 2019)

Annex B

Equality Impacts published between April 2025 to March 2026

Employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and Employment Allowance changes: screening equality impact assessment — 3 April 2025

Cash basis reform: screening equality impact assessment — 3 April 2025

New Computerised Transit System Phase 5: screening equality impact assessment — 8 April 2025

Pensions Tax Relief: Lifetime Allowance: screening equality impact assessment — 10 April 2025

Capital Gains Tax rate change: screening equality impact assessment — 10 April 2025

New Entitlement to Statutory Neonatal Care Pay: screening equality impact assessment — 10 June 2025

Research and Development tax relief reform and intensive support: screening equality impact assessment — 18 September 2025

Voice Biometrics Project: screening equality impact assessment — 2 October 2025

Enhanced Research and Development Intensive Support: Northern Ireland companies — 2 October 2025

VAT Import One Stop Shop scheme for an intermediary: screening equality impact assessment — 12 March 2026