HMRC’s whistleblower reward scheme: what we know so far

Last month as part of a speech marking the 20th anniversary of HMRC Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray MP announced that HMRC will launch a new reward scheme for informants to target ‘serious non-compliance in large corporates wealthy individuals offshore and avoidance schemes’. This was also confirmed as part of the Spring Statement 2025.

Specific details of the new scheme to be introduced at some point in 2025 are yet to be announced. However Mr Murray stated that the scheme would take inspiration from US and Canadian whistleblower models and would ‘complement’ HMRC’s existing rewards scheme with informants rewarded with a percentage of any tax taken as a result of their actions.

While HMRC currently invite reports of suspected tax...