HMRC will end letters in post from March 2026

As part of HMRC’s ambitious digital by default programme, which envisages 90% of HMRC interactions with taxpayers being online or digital only by 2029-30 tax year, the Budget papers confirmed a major shift to digital by default had been signed off by the government, starting sooner than expected.

This means that the days of posted brown letters from HMRC are very much numbered with only the ‘digitally excluded’ or those who actively opt out of digital still able to receive old school posted letters, starting in spring 2026.

The rollout of digital by default will be controlled and there will be an opt-out available to continue to receive letters if preferred. Legislation will also be amended to allow HMRC to contact taxpayers by email.

Under the plan, digital letters will be sent to taxpayers’ HMRC accounts, not to their email addresses.

Taxpayers will be required to provide an email (or other digital contact detail) for the HMRC app and online account.

Essentially anyone who currently uses the HMRC app or a personal tax account (PTA) will be in the first tranche of taxpayers affected. They will no longer be sent letters in the post, but instead will receive an email notification advising them that a new HMRC letter, document or communication has been uploaded to their account for viewing.

Following requests for clarification on exactly who will be affected, HMRC told Business & Accountancy Daily: ‘Only those who log into their online tax account or HMRC app will be asked to provide their contact details. Anyone else will continue to receive paper letters – including those choosing to opt out if they need to continue receiving paper communications. It’s for people who already interact with us digitally, or do so in the future.’

Clearly HMRC is hoping that the majority of taxpayers will go digital by the end of the decade, with the policy paper on the plan stating that people who still want to receive letters can make the choice ‘not to engage with us digitally’.

But despite the massive overhaul of the system, far less collecting everyone’s email and mobile numbers, this measure will not raise any additional tax from compliance, showed Treasury calculations.

There is an acknowledgement that not all of HMRC’s services are currently available online or digitally so the transition to digital by default will take time.

HMRC confirmed: ‘As each service becomes live and the customer logs into their HMRC app or online account, they will be prompted to enter or confirm their contact details and email address. They’ll be informed that the supplied email will be used to notify them of communications in the HMRC app and online account. Customers will be able to opt out of receiving digital communications if they have a need for paper communications.’

An HMRC spokesperson said: ‘This change in approach will help free up our advisers so they can focus on providing support to those who need it most. It will also help us to deliver savings of £50m a year in print and postage costs by 2028/29.’

On a positive note, this means HMRC will enter the modern digital world and will be able to communicate with taxpayers by text and email to notify them that a letter is being hosted on either the HMRC app or their personal tax account for their urgent review. In the past HMRC has been very resistant to the use of email, frequently arguing letters are their preference in terms of comms for taxpayer data security.

In terms of the digitally excluded, the HMRC policy paper states: ‘Paper communications will continue to be available for customers who choose not to engage with us digitally and who are digitally excluded.’

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