HM Revenue & Customs

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) was established by Act of Parliament in 2005, replacing the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise. It is a non-ministerial government department led by Commissioners and is responsible for administering the UK tax system impartially.

HMRC collects income tax, corporation tax, VAT, customs and excise duties, National Insurance contributions and other taxes. It also administers tax credits and Child Benefit, recovers student-loan repayments, supervises anti-money-laundering compliance, enforces the National Minimum Wage and supports customs activity at the UK border.

For students, HMRC is especially relevant for work involving tax policy, compliance, investigations, digital public services, customs and large-scale financial administration. Its 2024-25 results show the scale of that work: £875.9 billion in reported revenue, £48.0 billion protected through compliance activity and more than 78 million customs declarations processed.