Changes to the publishing details of deliberate defaulters policy
Published 13 July 2026
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/publishing-details-of-deliberate-defaulters-reform/changes-to-the-publishing-details-of-deliberate-defaulters-policy
Who is likely to be affected
Individuals and businesses who have been deliberately non-compliant with certain tax obligations and have met the conditions for their details to be published under HMRC’s publishing details of deliberate defaulters policy.
General description of the measure
HMRC publishes details of individuals and business who have been charged with penalties for deliberate non-compliance with certain tax obligations. This measure will enable HMRC to publish more information about the deliberate non-compliance (a description, tax and penalty types charged). The measure will also allow HMRC to start publishing details of company officers who have received personal liability notices in connection with company penalties charged for deliberate non-compliance.
This measure will also increase the threshold at which HMRC can publish a deliberate defaulter’s details from £25,000 potential lost revenue to £50,000 potential lost revenue.
Policy objective
These changes aim to improve transparency of HMRC’s work to tackle deliberate non-compliance and increase the policy’s effectiveness as a deterrent to deliberate non-compliance. The threshold is being increased to £50,000 to broadly reflect inflation since the threshold was introduced, maintain the proportionality of the regime as HMRC moves to publish more information about the defaulter’s deliberate non-compliance, and focus publication on more serious cases of deliberate non-compliance.
Background to the measure
At Budget 2025, the government announced it would be bringing forward changes to HMRC’s publishing details of deliberate defaulters framework.
At tax update 2026 the government announced that it will reform the publishing details of deliberate defaulters policy to allow HMRC to publish more information about the deliberate non-compliance that leads to publication of the defaulter’s details and publish details relating to personal liability notices.
It was also announced that the threshold for publication of a defaulter’s details would be increased to £50,000 potential lost revenue.
Detailed proposal
Operative date
The threshold at which HMRC can publish the details of an individual or business charged with penalties for deliberate non-compliance, where the other legislative conditions are also met, will increase to £50,000 potential lost revenue from the November 2026 publishing details of deliberate defaulters publication. The operative date for the increase to the threshold is subject to the Statutory Instrument that will make this change.
The changes which enable HMRC to publish more details about the deliberate non-compliance, including details of personal liability notices, will apply to deliberate non-compliance which meets the legislative criteria for publication, and which takes place after the date of Royal Assent to Finance Bill 2026-27.
Current law
The current law is contained in Section 94 of the Finance Act 2009.
Proposed revisions
This measure will amend the legislation at Section 94 of the Finance Act 2009 to expand the amount of information HMRC can publish about the deliberate non-compliance that led to publication of an individual or business’ details under that framework. It will also add a new Section 94A which will allow HMRC to publish details of personal liability notices, issued when a company’s liability to a penalty for deliberate non-compliance is transferred to its company officer.
The increase to the threshold for publication to £50,000 potential lost revenue will be implemented by Statutory Instrument, subject to a negative procedure as per Section 94(15) Finance Act 2009.
Summary of impacts
Exchequer impact (£ million)
| 2025 to 2026 | 2026 to 2027 | 2027 to 2028 | 2028 to 2029 | 2029 to 2030 | 2030 to 2031 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -— | — | nil | nil | nil | nil |
This measure is not expected to have an Exchequer impact.
Macroeconomic impact
This measure is not expected to have any significant macroeconomic impacts.
Impact on individuals, households and families
This measure will impact approximately 800 individuals and businesses per year who receive penalties for deliberate non-compliance with certain tax obligations, where the criteria for publication have been met. It is not expected to impact compliant individuals.
The measure could result in increased media or public interest in individuals whose details are published. This has potential to impact on family formation, stability, or breakdown in a very small number of cases where publication of the deliberate defaulter’s details could have an impact on family members or business partners. To mitigate this, the publishing details of deliberate defaulters process has a number of safeguards in place to make sure HMRC does not publish individuals’ details if there are exceptional reasons not to publish. HMRC considers representations from individuals prior to publication and will only publish if the conditions are met. HMRC does not publish people’s details if there is a risk to safety.
This measure is not expected to affect compliant individuals’ experience of dealing with HMRC, as it does not change any tax administration processes or obligations.
Equalities impacts
This measure will impact individuals and businesses who have been charged with penalties for deliberate non-compliance with certain tax obligations, where the criteria for publication have been met.
HMRC does not hold data on protected characteristics of individuals impacted by this measure and so cannot make an assessment of the equality impacts.
Administrative impact on business including civil society organisations
This measure will impact approximately 800 individuals and businesses per year who receive penalties for deliberate non-compliance with certain tax obligations, where the criteria for publication have been met. It is not expected to impact compliant businesses.
This measure could result in increased media or public interest in businesses whose details are published. HMRC considers representations from businesses prior to publication and will only publish if the conditions are met.
This measure is not expected to have an additional administrative impact on businesses or civil society organisations.
Operational impact (£ million) (HMRC or other)
HMRC will not incur any costs implementing this change. HMRC’s guidance and customer factsheets will be updated to reflect the changes.
Other impacts
Other impacts have been considered and none have been identified.
Monitoring and evaluation
The measure will be kept under review through communication with affected taxpayer groups.
Further advice
If you have any questions about these changes, contact HMRC’s Information Policy and Disclosure team by email: ipd.disclosure@hmrc.gov.uk.