Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answers of 10 September 2026 to Question 26582 on Government Departments: Off-payroll Working, and to Question 26567 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Taxation, whether there is a statutory prohibition on his Department's Ministers disclosing to Parliament which central government departments and arm's length bodies are under investigation by HMRC in relation to potential IR35 tax avoidance.

HMRC has a statutory duty of confidentiality under section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005. This prevents HMRC from disclosing information about identifiable taxpayers, including whether a particular body is subject to an investigation, unless there is lawful authority to do so

HMRC cannot provide Ministers with information identifying which central government departments or arm’s-length bodies are, or are not, under investigation. Nor can HMRC provide aggregate figures relating to groups of individuals or organisations if providing those figures could, when combined with information already in the public domain, enable the bodies concerned to be identified or allow inferences to be drawn about other bodies.