HMRC warned by Committee for handling of phishing attack

The Treasury Committee has warned HMRC that its failure to report details of a breach affecting around 100,000 taxpayers is ‘unacceptable' in a letter published today. 

The information, which only became apparent to the Committee when a notification was published on the HMRC website on the same day as a live session, involved a cost to the taxpayer of around £47 million. 

During the session, witnesses from HMRC told the Committee that the department had worked with agent and representative bodies regarding this incident.  

The Committee has published a letter from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants stipulating that they had not discussed the phishing incident with HMRC and were not aware of it prior to the hearing on 4 June.