HMRC Self-Assessment Scams – don’t get caught out

There may still be a good few weeks to go until the Self-Assessment deadline in January – but if you are self-employed or a small business owner, here is some advice you won’t want to miss!

Last year, HMRC saw nearly 170,000 reports about tax scams in the 12 months to 31 July 2025 – and 46,000 fake tax refund claims.

As anyone who has completed a Self-Assessment knows, it can be time consuming and arduous. But getting started early and being aware of scams and how to spot them may take the pressure off a little … and save you any heartache in the long run,

You might receive an HMRC scam email, or a scammer could pretend to be HMRC over the phone or through a text message.

HMRC says common tricks from scammers include offering a rebate, requesting you to update tax details, or threatening arrest for tax evasion.

Five ways to spot a fake HMRC scam:

1. Fake HMRC email address

These can be tricky to spot, as fraudsters often use addresses that look official at first glance, containing words like Revenue, HMRC, and gov.

The key to spotting whether the address is real or not is to hover over the ‘from’ address. The actual link the text leads to will not end in @hmrc.gov.uk (which all official emails from HMRC will). If you think you have received a suspicious email, use this HMRC email address to report it to [email protected]

If you receive what you think is a text scam, forward it to 60599.

2. Tax rebate offers

If you get an HMRC tax refund email, it’s almost certainly a scam. Emails from HMRC will never offer you any repayment, tell you about a tax rebate, or ask you to send personal information (such as an address or bank details).

3. Request for immediate action

Fraudsters will often try to scare you into complying by telling you that you need to do as they ask quickly or face the consequences.

Emails that use phrases like ‘you only have three days to respond’ or ‘urgent action required’ are likely to be scams, so don’t fall for the scare tactics and contact HMRC if you’re unsure.

4.  Fake links and dodgy attachments

Any emails that contain links to a web page or have an attachment should be treated suspiciously. The links may go to a site that looks like the real HMRC homepage but will ask you to input personal information so they can steal it.

Similarly, don’t open any attachments that you aren’t expecting. These could contain viruses that will give scammers a backdoor into your computer and allow them to access your personal information, as well as your clients or customers.

5. Beware generic greetings

Be wary of emails that start ‘Dear Sir/Madam’, ‘Dear customer’ or simply ‘Hello’, rather than your name, as they are highly likely to be fraudulent. Emails from HMRC will address you by your name.

Report other types of HMRC scams

If you get:

• a message in an application, for example WhatsApp, take a screenshot and email it to [email protected]
• a phone call asking for personal information or threatening a lawsuit, report it via the online form at https://www.gov.uk/
• a letter, contact the HMRC team the letter says it’s from at https://www.gov.uk/contact-hmrc, for example the Self Assessment team
• a message from a social media account, and you cannot verify the account it comes from, send details by email to [email protected] and ignore it