A letter arrived from HMRC. What now?
Most of these letters are not what people fear they are. Telling the four kinds apart takes about a minute and changes what you should do next.
The instinct is either to open it immediately and panic, or to put it on the shelf. Both are worse than reading the first line properly, because these letters fall into four groups and only one of them is urgent in the way people assume.
1. A statement or a calculation
It tells you what HMRC thinks you owe or are owed. It is not an accusation. It is, however, worth checking rather than accepting: these are produced from the information HMRC holds, and if that information is incomplete — a job you left, a second income, a relief you never claimed — the figure is confidently wrong.
2. A request for information
A deadline, a list of what to send. The deadline is real and extensions are usually possible if you ask before it passes, which is the whole reason to open the envelope the day it arrives rather than the week after.
3. A compliance check
This is the one people mean when they say they are being investigated. It says which tax and which period. It does not mean HMRC has concluded anything. What matters here is that everything you send becomes the record: an answer given quickly to get the letter off your desk is an answer you will be held to for the rest of the check. This is the point at which having somebody who does this for a living is worth more than it costs.
4. A penalty notice
It states what the penalty is for and how to appeal. Appeals have a time limit, usually thirty days, and "I did not see the letter" is not by itself a reasonable excuse — but a genuine reason often is, and it has to be raised in the window.
How to tell a real letter from a fake one
HMRC-branded fraud is common and seasonal, peaking around filing deadlines. The reliable tests:
- HMRC does not text or email you about a refund, and does not ask for card details to pay one.
- It does not ask for a password, and does not phone demanding immediate payment to avoid arrest.
- Anything referenced in a letter can be checked by signing in to your own tax account directly — never through a link in the message.
The current list of genuine HMRC contact methods is published on gov.uk.
The one thing not to do
Ignore it. Almost every HMRC problem that becomes expensive did so by being left: interest accrues, estimated assessments get issued in the absence of your figures, and appeal windows close. A letter answered late is a much smaller problem than a letter answered never.
This is general information about how a process works, not advice about your situation. Thresholds, fees and deadlines change — check the official source linked above for the current figures, or ask a professional who can see your circumstances.