24
HMRC’s legacy IT systems pose security, reliability, and cost risks.
Conclusion
HMRC explained that there are three key risks that arise from operating legacy systems: lower levels of security; lower reliability and resilience; and higher costs of system changes. HMRC said that its executive team and its digital team track how up to date its systems are and how that is changing over time. HMRC told us that it now has a tolerable level of risk in its IT estate, but progress on remediation was not as fast as it would like.44
Government Response
A response document is linked to this report, dated 18 September 2025. Response attribution to this conclusion has not been verified. Read the response document.
Source
Committee
Public Accounts Committee
Inquiry
The cost of the tax system
Report
23rd Report - The cost of the tax system
30 Apr 2025
HC 645
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age
1.4 yr
Report published
30 Apr 2025