Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has plans to tackle third party websites which charge excessive fees for helping taxpayers reclaim tax rebates.

The government is committed to maintaining trust in the tax system and protecting customers. However, the government is aware that some taxpayers face issues and feel misled when using companies that specialise in claiming tax refunds from HMRC. This service is provided at a cost (often on a no-win, no fee commission basis) unlike claiming directly from HMRC which is free of charge.

HMRC consulted last year on measures to ensure individual taxpayers get the information they need to make informed decisions about whether to use a repayment agent - “Raising standards in tax advice: Protecting customers claiming tax repayments”.

The ‘Summary of Responses and Next Steps’ was published on 11 January 2023 which included actions to improve transparency requirements in the HMRC Standard for Agents and undertaking further work to strengthen the evidence that a claim has been made with a customer’s consent.

HMRC encourages customers to carefully read the repayment agent’s terms and conditions to understand what they are signing up to, the fees they will pay, and the legal agreement they are signing.