Whistleblowing: prescribed person report for the tax year 2019 to 2020
Published 29 September 2020
© Crown copyright 2020
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The Commissioners for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) meet the definition of a ‘prescribed person’ under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.
The Act provides protection for employees who pass on information concerning wrongdoing in certain circumstances. The protection only applies where the person who makes the disclosure reasonably believes:
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that they are acting in the public interest, which means that protection is not normally given for personal grievances
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that the disclosure is about one of:
- criminal offences (this includes financial improprieties, such as fraud)
- failure to comply with duties set out in law
- miscarriages of justice endangering someone’s health and safety
- damage to the environment
- covering up wrongdoing in any of these categories
The Prescribed Persons Regulations 2017 came into force on 1 April 2017. Prescribed persons are required to report annually on whistleblowing disclosures made to them.
Reporting
Matters relating to the functions of the Commissioners for HMRC, as set out in the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005, include:
- the administration of the UK’s taxes, including Income Tax, Inheritance Tax, Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax, VAT, and the excise duties
- the administration of the National Insurance and tax credits systems
- customs and border-related functions
- criminal investigations
HMRC receives referrals from the public through its fraud hotline, and separately in respect of its National Minimum Wage (NMW) responsibilities.
Not all of these referrals fall within the definition of qualifying disclosures (allegations of wrongdoing about the referrer’s own employer), but all are assessed and actioned in the same way.
HMRC systematically captures the number of referrals that are relevant to the Prescribed Persons (Reports on Disclosures of Information) Regulations 2017.
During the reporting period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020, HMRC received 8,892 whistleblowing disclosures.
This is the statutory template for reporting:
| Category | Number of disclosures |
|---|---|
| Qualifying disclosures (total) | 8,892 |
| Number of qualifying disclosures requiring further action | 2,121 |
| Number of qualifying disclosures requiring no further action | 6,771 |
HMRC values the information that we receive from employees who have concerns about their employer.
Clamping down on those who try to cheat the system through evading taxes and/or failing to pay the minimum wage to which their employees are legally entitled are key priorities for us, and we are committed to ensuring that the tax system and labour markets operate fairly, efficiently and within the law.
We carefully assess all the information that we receive before making a decision on the most appropriate course of action.
We action all worker complaints about non-payment of the NMW reported to us through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) helpline or an online NMW complaint form in line with the agreement in place.
Other reports are subjected to tests relating to the risk of non-compliance, and further action is taken where deemed appropriate.