Check if a letter you’ve received from HMRC is genuine
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-19)

Check a list of recent letters from HMRC to help you decide if a letter you’ve received is a scam.

If your letter is not listed here, you can:
- check HMRC contact that uses more than one communication method (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-genuine-hmrc-contact-that-uses-more-than-one-communication-method)
- check if a QR code on a letter you’ve received from HMRC is genuine (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-a-qr-code-on-a-letter-youve-received-from-hmrc-is-genuine)
Report suspicious phone calls, emails or texts to HMRC (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/reporting-fraudulent-emails).

High Income Child Benefit Charge — check if you need to pay

From 22 September 2025 up to and including 18 November 2025, HMRC may write to you.

You may get a letter from HMRC about the High Income Child Benefit Charge for the 2024 to 2025 or 2025 to 2026 tax years.

The letter will tell you:
- how to check if you need to pay
- how you can pay
- what to do if you pay through your tax code
HMRC will never include or ask for personal or financial information in these letters.

Home as office expenses — check you’ve claimed correctly

From 15 October 2025 up to and including 28 November 2025, HMRC may write to you.

You may get a letter from HMRC to ask you to check your home as office expenses claim.

The letter will ask you to:
- review the qualifying criteria
- review your most recent Company Tax Return and correct it, if you need to
- review your previous returns and disclose them using the disclosure service, if you need to
- contact HMRC by email or telephone if you do not need to make any amendments
Letter CA2490 — Home Responsibilities Protection eligibility

HMRC will send you a letter if we think you may have missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).

We want to help you make sure you receive the right amount of State Pension, so we’re asking you to check if you were eligible for HRP between 1978 and 2010. You may have been eligible if you received Child Benefit for a child under 16.

The letter will tell you how you can check if you’re eligible to claim missing Home Responsibilities Protection and how to make a claim.

Letter CA4361 — National Insurance contributions

HMRC will contact you by letter if we think you may have paid too much in your National Insurance contributions.

We will ask you for information about your past employment.

We will tell you which tax years we need information for and we will include details of employers we have on our records.

The letter will ask you to reply by either:
- completing the online form
- completing and posting the paper form attached with the letter
We will then review the details you provide and confirm if you are due a refund.

Letter IDMS99 — amount overdue

HMRC will contact you by letter to tell you that our records show that a payment is overdue.

The letter will tell you:
- how to pay
- what happens if you do not pay or call us within 28 days of receiving the letter
There is a QR code on the letter which will take you to our find out what to do if you owe money to HMRC (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-what-to-do-if-you-owe-money-to-hmrc) page. This will help you find the right guidance and support if you owe money to HMRC for tax or penalties.

You must not ignore this letter.

Letter IDMS99P — Simple Assessment

HMRC will contact you by letter to tell you there is an overdue payment on your Simple Assessment tax bill.

The letter will tell you:
- how to pay
- if you cannot pay in full now, to call HMRC on xx-xxxx-xxxx
- what happens if you do not pay or call us within 28 days of receiving the letter
You must not ignore the letter.

Letter OCA300 — repayment of student loan deductions

HMRC will contact you by letter to tell you there is a repayment of student loan deductions due.

We will include details of why the repayment is due and the employer you worked with at the time.

We will ask for personal information to allow us to make a faster repayment.

You can contact the Income Tax: general enquiry helpline (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/income-tax-enquiries-for-individuals-pensioners-and-employees) to confirm this request is genuine.

Letter VPCF1 — decision to cancel your VAT registration

As part of HMRC’s VAT registration security procedures, we check registrations to test their intention to trade is valid.

If we believe you are not eligible to be registered for VAT, you may receive a letter from us advising of our intention to deregister you.

If you send us information to show you’re eligible for registration within 30 days, you will stay registered. This means you will be able to manage your VAT records with HMRC.

We will let you know what information and documents to provide. If this is not sent within 30 days HMRC will deregister the business from VAT.

If you receive further requests for information to be sent to an email address that does not end in ‘hmrc.gov.uk’, they will not be genuine and you should report this to HMRC (https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing/report-scam-HMRC-emails-texts-phone-calls-and-letters).

You can contact the VAT: general enquiries helpline (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/vat-enquiries) if you need further support or you’re not sure if the letter is genuine.

Possible involvement in tax avoidance

HMRC will contact you by letter to warn you of your possible involvement in tax avoidance.

You will receive a letter when:
- our systems show you may be using, or have used, employment arrangements that involve tax avoidance
- HMRC publishes information about tax avoidance arrangements, and the people involved in the supply and marketing of them
The letter will tell you:
- how to check if your employment arrangements may involve tax avoidance
- the risks of using tax avoidance arrangements
- about the support available to help you
We want to make you aware of our concerns as early as possible, so you do not build up a large tax bill.

You must not ignore the letter.

Find out more about tax avoidance and HMRC’s don’t get caught out campaign (https://dontgetcaughtout.campaign.gov.uk/tax-avoidance/).

Self Assessment — claiming a repayment

You may get a letter from HMRC asking you to contact us about your repayment claim.

We may ask you to send more information to verify your claim.

You must respond to the letter so we can make any repayments owed to you as soon as possible.

If you receive further requests for information to be sent to an email address that does not end in ‘hmrc.gov.uk’, they will not be genuine and you should report this to HMRC (https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing/report-scam-HMRC-emails-texts-phone-calls-and-letters).

You can contact the Self Assessment: general enquiries helpline (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/self-assessment) if you need further support or you’re not sure if the letter is genuine.

Self Assessment repayment claim and criteria review

HMRC will contact you by letter to explain we are reviewing a Self Assessment repayment claim linked to your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number.

You will receive a letter from us if we believe you do not meet the criteria for submitting a Self Assessment tax return.

The letter will ask you to:
- contact HMRC using the phone number given on the letter within 30 days if you disagree
- explain why you meet the Self Assessment criteria
- provide evidence if requested
If you do not contact HMRC within 30 days, we will not:
- process your return
- issue a repayment of income tax to you
- send you a notice to file a Self Assessment tax return in future
Other letters you should check

You can also:
- check HMRC contact that uses more than one communication method (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-genuine-hmrc-contact-that-uses-more-than-one-communication-method)
- check if a QR code on a letter you’ve received from HMRC is genuine (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-a-qr-code-on-a-letter-youve-received-from-hmrc-is-genuine)