Research and analysis

The Large Business Customer Survey 2025: Executive Summary

Published 9 July 2026

1. Introduction

The Large Business Survey (LBS) tracks the experiences of the UK’s largest and most complex businesses in their dealings with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Wave 11 (LBS 2025) is based on a quantitative survey of 558 Heads of Tax or Finance Directors (around 30% of the large business population) and 30 qualitative follow‑up interviews, conducted between September 2025 and March 2026. The survey measures overall customer experience, the effectiveness of HMRC processes and guidance, and business responses to recent and emerging tax policies.

2. Key findings

2.1 Overall customer experience

Most large businesses continued to report a positive overall experience of dealing with HMRC. In 2025, 78% rated their overall experience as good, including 34% who rated it as very good. This represents a statistically significant decrease from a high in 2020 when Covid was likely influencing responses but has remained stable since 2022 when Covid impacts are likely to have settled (2020: 91%; 2021: 83%; 2022: 81%; 2023: 81%; 2024: 82%).

Qualitative interviews found that negative experiences were linked to slow response times, delays to resolution and prolonged uncertainty. Positive experiences were characterised by collaborative, pragmatic engagement, a focus on material risks and confidence in HMRC’s technical competence.

Bayesian network analysis

Analysis showed that in 2025 overall experience was primarily shaped by 2 drivers:

1. HMRC being easy to deal with
2. interactions with HMRC leading to trust in the department

Compared with 2024, trust has become a more central driver of overall experience, while perceptions of HMRC’s competence now play a more indirect role, largely through their influence on perceptions of how easy HMRC are to deal with.

Key drivers

To summarise, 7 in 10 (70%) businesses agreed that HMRC are easy to deal with. This is consistent with 2024, though the proportion who strongly agreed statistically significantly declined from 29% in 2024 to 23% in 2025. Similarly, 70% of businesses that had contact with HMRC in the previous 12 months also agreed that this interaction led to trust in HMRC, including 25% who strongly agreed.

Other key drivers

Other aspects of HMRC’s service continued to receive broadly positive ratings. More than 3 in 4 (78%) agreed HMRC are competent in their treatment of the business (a statistically significant decrease from 84% in 2024), and 61% agreed HMRC provide certainty in their tax affairs, with the proportion that strongly agreed showing a statistically significant decrease from 20% in 2024 to 14% in 2025. These factors were not direct drivers of overall experience but influenced satisfaction indirectly through their effect on ease of dealing and trust.

Businesses with positive overall experiences that took part in a qualitative interview consistently described HMRC as collaborative, pragmatic and proportionate, particularly where engagement focused on material risks rather than minor technical issues.

Trust was built where HMRC demonstrated continuity, commercial understanding and provided clear explanations of their position, even where outcomes were not immediate. The Customer Compliance Manager (CCM) model was central to this, providing a single point of accountability and helping businesses navigate HMRC more easily.

Where experiences were less positive, there was a near consensus that dissatisfaction was driven by delays, slow response times and prolonged uncertainty. Businesses reported issues remaining unresolved for long periods, sometimes despite HMRC having accepted the business’s position in principle.

While businesses were sympathetic to HMRC’s resourcing pressures, frustration centred on lack of progress and limited communication, which undermined trust and perceptions of how easy HMRC are to deal with.

2.2 Wider customer experience

Views of HMRC beyond overall experience were broadly positive but showed some statistically significant downward trends. Almost 9 in 10 (87%) agreed HMRC actively seek a co‑operative relationship (90% in 2024), with a statistically significant fall in those strongly agreeing (45% vs 52%).

Almost 4 in 5 (78%) agreed HMRC are competent in their treatment of the business, a statistically significant decline from 84% in 2024, driven by fewer strong endorsements. Over 3 in 5 (61%) agreed HMRC provided certainty in their tax affairs, with the proportion strongly agreeing showing a statistically significant decline from 20% to 14%.

2.3 HMRC’s written communications

 Most businesses continue to rate HMRC’s written guidance positively, 82% rated quality of information as good and 71% rated guidance as good for providing sufficient clarity. While 7 in 10 (69%) rated the guidance as good for providing practical steps, the proportion had decreased statistically significantly since 2024 (75%).

Qualitative findings suggest businesses valued transparency and alignment between guidance and HMRC practice but wanted clearer examples and more operational guidance in complex areas.

2.4 The Customer Compliance Manager (CCM) relationship

Most (94%) large businesses had previously personally dealt with the CCM for their business. Of these businesses, more than 9 in 10 (92%) rated their overall relationship with their CCM as good, including 58% that rated it as very good.

Bayesian analysis identified 2 primary drivers of a good CCM relationship:

1. CCMs’ ability to be pragmatic and make decisions
2. keeping businesses informed on the progress of issues raised

In qualitative interviews, businesses consistently praised CCMs’ understanding of commercial context as well as their ability to be ‘pragmatic’ and ‘co-operative.’ Frustrations usually arose because of perceived resourcing pressures, staff turnover and reliance on policy teams.

2.5 Contact with HMRC

Over 9 in 10 (91%) businesses had contacted HMRC outside routine filing in the previous 12 months. Of these, 3 in 5 (58%) agreed HMRC responded within a commercially reasonable timeframe and 7 in 10 (68%) agreed HMRC made clear the next steps they needed to take. These findings are consistent with 2024.

Similarly, 7 in 10 (70%) reported it was easy to find relevant information needed on tax affairs or obligations from HMRC, a statistically significant rise from 62% in 2024. The same proportion (70%) agreed that the information from HMRC used over the past 12 months was helpful in resolving issues, consistent with 2024.

2.6 Compliance

Businesses reported very high understanding of, and confidence in, tax compliance. Almost all reported a good understanding of Corporation Tax (CT) (99%), VAT (97%), PAYE and NI (94%) and Customs and Excise taxes (81%).

Most businesses also reported confidence in meeting their obligations across all tax types, though ease of compliance with CT showed a statistically significant decline from 90% in 2024 to 85% in 2025.

Approaching 2 in 3 (63%) businesses with annual taxable profits over £20 million in the financial year before the survey reported that it was easy to estimate annual CT liability ahead of filing a tax return and making quarterly payments. In the qualitative interviews, businesses reported developing precise forecasting processes using accurate internal data which made this estimation easier.

2.7 Administrative burden and risk attitudes

Year on year perceptions of whether the administrative burden was reasonable have statistically significantly decreased since 2024. Almost 2 in 5 (39%) agreed the overall administrative burden of tax compliance was reasonable, while a similar number disagreed (37%). The proportion disagreeing was statistically significantly higher than 2024 (29%) and the highest disagreement seen across all previous LBS years.

Qualitative findings link rising burden to cumulative reporting requirements, complex new regimes (particularly Pillar Two), and long‑running unresolved issues.

Appetite for risk remains very low. The results showed that 9 in 10 (90%) rated their appetite for boundary‑pushing tax planning as low, with only 1% rating it as high. These findings are consistent with previous waves.

2.8 Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT)

More than 1 in 3 (36%) businesses reported dealing with plastic packaging, while a quarter (24%) of all businesses were liable for PPT. Among those liable, 52% agreed HMRC guidance was effective in helping them comply. Businesses frequently described PPT as high‑administration with limited behavioural impact, particularly where recycled content could not be independently verified.

2.9 Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

UK CBAM comes into force from 1 January 2027 and will apply a carbon price to certain imported goods from carbon‑intensive sectors. There will be a registration threshold applying to businesses importing £50,000 or more of in‑scope goods over a 12‑month period. It is estimated that of the 10,000 businesses that will be liable for the UK CBAM, less than 10% of them are large businesses.

Of the large businesses surveyed from September 2025 to January 2026, almost 1 in 2 businesses (46%) were aware of CBAM and 8% of all businesses interviewed believed they would be liable to register.

Among businesses that imported CBAM goods, 36% agreed HMRC guidance helped them understand their obligations and 11% felt it mitigated administrative burden. Qualitative feedback emphasised the need for earlier, clearer and more targeted communications (including via customs and trade channels, not just tax routes).

2.10 Full Expensing

Since it became permanent, 3 in 4 (75%) businesses had claimed Full Expensing. For most claimants (85%), Full Expensing had not influenced investment decisions. Where it did, the main effect was on timing rather than scale of investment. Administrative complexity linked to asset tracking was the most commonly cited challenge.