What are my rights during an HMRC compliance check?

The HMRC Charter sets out the standards HMRC commits to, including treating you as honest until shown otherwise, being professional and courteous, and explaining what's happening and why. It isn't a piece of legislation with penalties attached, but HMRC's own internal manuals reference it and caseworkers are expected to follow it.

In practice, the Charter translates into a right to clear communication, to have things explained in plain language, and to be given a named contact or reference number for your case. If a caseworker is unresponsive or unclear, you can raise it with their manager or through HMRC's complaints process.

Yes. You can appoint an agent at any point, including partway through a check, and HMRC should then correspond through that agent. There's no obligation to deal with HMRC alone, and doing so rarely helps, since caseworkers are trained negotiators dealing with cases every day.

Appointing representation doesn't slow things down if it's done promptly; a short delay while your accountant gets authorised is normal and HMRC expects it.

Formal information notices under Schedule 36 Finance Act 2008 must give a reasonable period to comply, which HMRC's own guidance treats as usually at least 30 days for routine requests. Informal requests made by letter don't carry the same statutory minimum, but you can still ask for more time if the deadline given is unrealistic.

If you genuinely can't meet a deadline, ask before it passes rather than after. HMRC is generally more flexible with a proactive request than with a missed one followed by an excuse.

HMRC should tell you the general subject of the check, for example that it's looking at your self assessment return for a particular year, or your VAT input tax claims. It doesn't have to disclose every internal risk indicator or the specific tip-off, if any, that triggered the check.

This partial transparency is deliberate: full disclosure of HMRC's risk methods would make them easier to circumvent. What you are entitled to is enough detail to understand what records and explanations are relevant.

You can appeal certain formal decisions, including some information notices, penalty notices, and amendments made by closure notice or discovery assessment, generally within 30 days of the decision. You cannot appeal HMRC's decision to open a compliance check in the first place; opening a check is discretionary and not itself an appealable act.

Where you disagree with how a check is being run rather than a formal decision, the route is usually a complaint or a request for an independent internal review rather than a tribunal appeal.

HMRC is bound by strict confidentiality rules under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005, and staff can face criminal sanctions for unlawful disclosure. Information gathered during your check should only be used for tax purposes and shared outside HMRC in narrow, defined circumstances.

This matters practically if HMRC contacts third parties, such as your bank or customers, as part of the check: those approaches must still be proportionate and relevant to the tax question being examined.