HMRC debt collectors: the agencies HMRC uses

Scammers imitate tax debt letters, so verify before paying anyone. Check the sender is on the gov.uk list above; if the name is not one of the eight, do not pay. You can also check the debt itself through your HMRC online account or by calling HMRC on a number from gov.uk, never one printed only on a suspicious letter. HMRC publishes a guide to identifying HMRC-related scams. HMRC says an agency will ask some security questions on the phone, and that when your payment clears "the agency will send it to us to credit to your HMRC account" (gov.uk).

HMRC says you can pay the agency what you owe, or talk to it about paying through a Time to Pay arrangement. It says a debt collection agency working for it "will only contact you by: letter, text message, phone" and "will never visit you at your home or place of work" (gov.uk, what will happen if you do not pay your tax bill). The enforcement powers on that gov.uk page, such as taking control of goods, are described as HMRC's own, used for example when "your debt is returned to us from a debt collection agency". Our reading is that the agencies only ask for payment. That is different from enforcement agents and from HMRC's own collectors, who can visit. If a caller says they are "HMRC bailiffs" from one of these agencies, check who they are before you pay. HMRC says all the agencies it works with "are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority".

Before any agency is involved, HMRC chases unpaid tax itself. Gov.uk says HMRC "will always try to contact you if you miss a tax payment. This can include sending you letters, texts and visiting you at home or at work" (gov.uk, if you do not pay). HMRC's guidance says that, except where it suspects fraud or crime, it will "try to contact you to talk about your situation" and "agree a way forward before we take any action". That can mean a Time to Pay arrangement, using a tax refund owed to you to clear other tax debts, or, for someone paid through PAYE, changing their tax code (gov.uk, what will happen if you do not pay your tax bill).

The agencies come later. HMRC's guidance says that if you do not respond or refuse to pay, it may either "visit you at your home or business address" or "use a debt collection agency to discuss settling your debt". If the agency cannot settle it, the case goes back to HMRC, and gov.uk lists a debt "returned to us from a debt collection agency" as one of the times HMRC uses its enforcement powers. So an agency letter usually means HMRC has already been trying to reach you.

Unlike the agencies, HMRC's own collectors can visit. Gov.uk says an HMRC collector "will usually visit you between 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday" and will show an identification card with their name, photograph and HMRC serial number. To check a collector is genuine, note the name and serial number and phone HMRC on 0300 200 3862 (gov.uk, check the identity of someone representing HMRC). HMRC says "All HMRC collectors have card payment machines". There is no fee if you pay by personal debit card, a non-refundable fee if you pay by corporate credit or debit card, and you cannot pay by personal credit card (gov.uk).

Whether the contact comes from HMRC or an agency, reply to it. Gov.uk says to "reply as soon as possible", so HMRC knows you "need support" and "are not refusing to pay what you owe". The Payment Support Service is the HMRC contact for UK taxpayers who cannot pay or disagree with the amount. The phone lines for each tax are in the next section. All gov.uk pages checked 1 November 2026.

The agency collects for HMRC, but the debt stays with HMRC, and you can contact HMRC about it yourself. HMRC's guidance says to contact it "if you cannot pay the tax you owe or disagree with the debt amount" (gov.uk). On a payment plan, gov.uk says HMRC "will check if a payment plan is affordable for you. If you cannot agree a payment plan with them, they'll ask you to pay the amount you owe in full" (gov.uk, if you cannot pay your tax bill on time). For a company, HMRC "will ask questions about your proposal to make sure it is realistic and affordable for you" (gov.uk, setting up a payment plan). See Time to Pay arrangements for how to ask.

HMRC lists a phone line for each tax. For a limited company, the Corporation Tax line is usually the one you need first. You can also ask HMRC's online digital assistant for help paying Corporation Tax, VAT or employer's PAYE, and it can pass you to a webchat adviser if one is free. If you want free, independent help rather than the creditor, see our guide to free business debt help.

Inside HMRC, the first team to chase unpaid tax is the Debt Resolution Team. HMRC's own staff manual says this team "pursues initial recovery of debt using a campaign structure categorising customers by ability and propensity to pay". It says the campaigns "follow a letter and telephone contact strategy on debt value up to £350,000" (HMRC Self Assessment Manual, SAM70060).

The same manual page names the other HMRC teams that can take a debt on:

• the Centralised Large Debt Team, for debts over £350,000
• Debt Enforcement, which carries out "last-stage debt recovery action before commencement of legal action"
• the Field Collection Team, which collects "through face-to-face contact" at home and trading addresses
• the Enforcement & Insolvency Service, which "can initiate proceedings for bankruptcy and winding up orders"

For Corporation Tax, HMRC's system first sends payment reminders on its own. HMRC's Company Taxation Manual says that where this "automatic pursuit by COTAX fails to produce payment", the debt is passed on for clerical pursuit, and "The Debt Resolution Team deals with such Accounting Periods" (HMRC Company Taxation Manual, COM110001).

These are HMRC's internal manuals. They describe how HMRC organises its own work, not rights you have. To talk to HMRC about a company tax debt, use the phone lines in the table above, Corporation Tax first. Both manual pages checked 1 November 2026.

If you cannot pay in full or agree a Time to Pay arrangement, gov.uk says "the agency will pass your case back to us to deal with. We will then contact you to tell you what will happen next." HMRC can then use its enforcement powers (gov.uk). These include:

• taking control of goods: in England and Wales, HMRC first issues "a formal notice of enforcement that will cost you £75"
• taking money directly from your bank accounts: in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, HMRC can do this when you "owe £1,000 or more" and "have enough funds in your bank accounts to cover the debt and your reasonable living costs"
• county court action
• insolvency, which HMRC says it uses "as a final course of action". For a company this can mean a winding-up petition

If the company cannot pay, take advice early. See company HMRC debt for the wider picture.

An agency letter for tax the company cannot afford is usually a symptom, not the problem. Work out what is affordable with the Time to Pay affordability calculator, and if no realistic plan clears the arrears, apply the insolvency tests and speak to a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner about rescue or an orderly closure before HMRC takes the case back and escalates.