Corporate report

Annex B: HMRC’s digital improvements for customer experience

Published 21 July 2025

These are HMRC’s planned deliverables at the time of publication. These plans will iterate as they progress into design and testing, and further details will be developed over the spending review period.

Income Tax: Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and National Insurance contributions

HMRC will:

Roll out a new online service in 2025 to 2026 for all PAYE customers, with new self-serve features enabling customers to make changes to reported income, and to verify tax payments, allowances and deductions.

Launch a new expenses service in 2025 to 2026 to enable PAYE customers to submit claims for tax relief on their allowable expenses and upload supporting evidence in one place.

Enhance the online PAYE service with explanations and reassurance messages for customers.

Develop a new reporting service to make it easier for customers with simple tax affairs to report their taxable income to HMRC.

Expand and enhance digital options for National Insurance contributions refunds to make it easier and faster for customer to access the refunds they are entitled to.

Income Tax: Self Assessment

HMRC will:

Improve the process for digital Self Assessment registration and cessation.

Improve the digital process for appealing against late filing and late payment penalties.

Reduce HMRC processing times, for example by exploiting opportunities to automate, so that customers get quicker responses.

Provide customers with enhanced on-screen reassurance messages to reduce the need for progress chasing.

Introduce HMRC adviser-driven messages that will provide progress updates for customers who have provided digital contact details.

Roll out Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, beginning in April 2026 for those with incomes of £50,000 and above, and for further groups in subsequent years.

Value Added Tax (VAT)

HMRC will:

Improve registration processes through a test-and-learn approach, including by exploring sending VAT numbers by email.

Explore automation options to improve the data-driven de-registration processes.

Explore adding a repayment tracker via the Business Tax Account to increase reassurance and reduce the need for progress chasing.

Explore increasing the adoption of e-invoicing as a means of reducing administrative burdens, improving cashflow, and reducing errors for VAT customers.

Child Benefit

HMRC will:

Introduce in 2025 to 2026 a claims tracking service with personalised notifications to remove the need for customers to chase progress.

Enable newly-liable customers who meet the eligibility requirements for the High Income Child Benefit charge to make payments via their tax code without needing to register for Self Assessment from Summer 2025.

Pre-populate Self Assessment tax returns with Child Benefit data for those not reporting payments through their tax code, from April 2026.

Explore Child Benefit digital award notices, to replace paper for the vast majority of customers who make their claims online.

Explore how Child Benefit and childcare services could be integrated to provide customers with a seamless end-to-end digital service.

Customs

HMRC will:

Enhance the non-AI elements of the Online Trade Tariff service to provide a more personalised and improved service for users.

Make it easier for customers to submit information to the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) and improve the availability of information about goods movements.

Improve integration across the range of platforms within HMRC’s customs administration, enabling HMRC to better use automation and advanced data processing.

Corporation Tax

HMRC will:

Renew HMRC’s legacy Corporation Tax system to ensure its continuing functionality and security.

Work with stakeholders to develop key design features of a new Corporation Tax system that caters for the diverse population of users.

Inheritance Tax

HMRC will:

Replace the existing manual, paper-based Inheritance Tax process with a modern end-to-end digital service to improve efficiency and accuracy by 2027 to 2028.

Agents

HMRC is working with tax advisers and professional bodies to develop and deliver improvements. HMRC will:

Modernise and mandate tax adviser registration from April 2026, with streamlined registration processes.

Modernise digital identity for tax advisers and how they are authorised by their clients.

Provide secure three-way communication between HMRC, its customers and their agents.

Introduce new capabilities to enable agents to digitally withdraw their clients from the Self Assessment service.

Enhance the income record viewer to expand the information available.

Launch a new service to allow agents to digitally submit information which may impact their client’s tax code.

Provide the ability for agents to track the progress of their client’s submissions and repayments.

Cross-cutting digital improvements

HMRC is investing in improved use of data and new technologies that will support improvements for all customer groups. HMRC will:

Improve the information available to HMRC advisers to enable high-quality support and swifter resolution of customers’ issues.

Modernise how customers register and authenticate themselves to use HMRC’s digital services.

Modernise communication with customers, increase digital outbound communications and send less post.

Expand functionality available in the HMRC app, which helps customers to view and manage their taxes and benefits across personal tax and benefits regimes.

Integrate AI to support improved customer service, such as in the ‘Ask HMRC online’ digital assistant.

Improve its use of third party data, including to pre-populate tax returns making completing Self Assessment submissions easier, and to improve the accuracy of PAYE tax codes.

Expand the use of progress updates and reassurance messages, as well as secure channels for customers to communicate and exchange information digitally.

Invest in improvements to transform HMRC’s payments journeys to make the processes more efficient, accessible, and simpler for customers - for example, enabling more customers to receive repayments directly into their bank accounts.