HMRC's chief executive, John-Paul Marks, has received a harshly worded letter from the Treasury Committee over the failure to inform it of the latest data breach before a meeting last week. It called into question HMRC's assertions that representative bodies had been informed of the incident.
On 4 June 2025, Mr Marks and his deputy, Angela MacDonald, appeared before the Treasury Committee at the same time that HMRC released a Short .GOV page without an accompanying press release. It reported a Breach affecting around 100,000 taxpayers and costing taxpayers £47 million.
The letter from Dame Meg Hillier DBE MP Chair, Treasury Committee, sent on 10 June 2025, warned HMRC that its failure to report details of the breach was ‘unacceptable’.
She added, "I am alarmed that it was never deemed necessary to inform Parliament about an issue which affected such a vast number of taxpayers and led to the loss of £47 million of public money. To discover this information during a session from press reports and without adequate time for the Committee to review the information in detail is unacceptable".
Mr Marks' position became even more uncomfortable when Dame Meg highlighted that during evidence, he told the Committee that the department had worked with agents and representative bodies regarding this incident.
The Committee had received a letter from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) refuting his statement, and it was not aware of the incident before the hearing on 4 June.
Glenn Collins, Head of Technical and Strategic Engagement at the ACCA, wrote, “In his remarks following your question about the release of the statement on gov.uk regarding the breach of personal accounts, the First Permanent Secretary said that HMRC had worked with agent and representative bodies in the new year. ACCA has not discussed the breach of personal accounts referenced with HMRC before your evidence session... This disappointing failure to communicate in a timely manner is unfortunately representative of the poor levels of customer service received by agents and taxpayers."
The letter from the Treasury Committee goes on to demand answers to 12 specific questions by Tuesday, 24 June 2025.
Useful guides on this topic
Unauthorised access of HMRC online accounts
HMRC report that their security systems have detected unauthorised access to some taxpayers’ online accounts, in an attempt to obtain money from HMRC. Around 100,000 individuals are affected, with £47m having been lost by HMRC. Guidance has been published for those impacted.
Setting up as a tax agent
What do you need to consider when setting up as a tax agent? What are the steps? How do you register with HMRC?
Personal Tax Account
What is a Personal Tax Account? How do I get one? What can I do with it?
External links
Treasury Committee letter to HMRC