[UK] HMRC announces 10-year deal for AI-powered support

In the UK, HMRC has announced a 10-year, £175m deal with the tech firm Quantexa to provide AI-powered technology to help improve its performance, BBC News reports.

According to Quantexa, its systems will combine data collected by HMRC with external sources to help identify incidents of fraud and fix unintentional errors more quickly.

Its tasks will reportedly include helping HMRC support customer service staff and identifying hidden networks of companies and individuals masking fraudulent activity.

Government figures have found public dissatisfaction with HMRC performance growing over recent years.

A Freedom of Information request made by the campaigners at the Contentious Tax Group revealed that more than 93,000 complaints were made about the department in 2024-2025.

This was an increase from just over 70,000 in 2020-21, with one of the main gripes about poor response times.

Quantexa stated that automated decisions about taxpayers will still need human verification.

Speaking to the BBC, Vishal Marria - Quantexa chief executive - said the new technology was designed to "support human decision-making, not replace it".

"In government environments, AI cannot operate as a black box. Decisions need to be transparent, auditable, and explainable, particularly in areas affecting citizens directly," he said.

Mr Marria added that HMRC data would remain secure, and staff working with the government department would remain separate from the rest of the business.

"We never take HMRC data away from the HMRC environment," he said.

Source: BBC News

(Quote via original reporting)

In the UK, HMRC has announced a 10-year, £175m deal with the tech firm Quantexa to provide AI-powered technology to help improve its performance, BBC News reports.

According to Quantexa, its systems will combine data collected by HMRC with external sources to help identify incidents of fraud and fix unintentional errors more quickly.

Its tasks will reportedly include helping HMRC support customer service staff and identifying hidden networks of companies and individuals masking fraudulent activity.

Government figures have found public dissatisfaction with HMRC performance growing over recent years.

A Freedom of Information request made by the campaigners at the Contentious Tax Group revealed that more than 93,000 complaints were made about the department in 2024-2025.

This was an increase from just over 70,000 in 2020-21, with one of the main gripes about poor response times.

Quantexa stated that automated decisions about taxpayers will still need human verification.

Speaking to the BBC, Vishal Marria - Quantexa chief executive - said the new technology was designed to "support human decision-making, not replace it".

"In government environments, AI cannot operate as a black box. Decisions need to be transparent, auditable, and explainable, particularly in areas affecting citizens directly," he said.

Mr Marria added that HMRC data would remain secure, and staff working with the government department would remain separate from the rest of the business.

"We never take HMRC data away from the HMRC environment," he said.

Source: BBC News

(Quote via original reporting)