HMRC’s new anti-avoidance information notice powers

What you need to know

HMRC has published guidance on the new anti-avoidance information notices (AAINs), contained in Part 6 of the Finance Act 2026. The new powers give HMRC significantly broader information-gathering powers when investigating the promotion or facilitation of tax avoidance.

What is the key change?

AAINs allow HMRC to require information and documents from people it “reasonably suspects are connected with the promotion or facilitation of tax avoidance”.

Importantly, HMRC does not need to establish that:

• tax has been lost
• an avoidance arrangement is ineffective, or
• the recipient has actually committed an offence.

The test is essentially whether the information is reasonably required for HMRC to monitor compliance with, or consider taking action under, specified anti-avoidance enactments.

The powers complement, rather than replace, HMRC’s existing information powers under Schedule 36 of the Finance Act 2008, which HMRC will continue to use.

Who can be caught?

The concept of a “connected person” is deliberately broad. It can include directors, employees, partners, trustees, advisers and others HMRC reasonably suspects are, or have been, contravening an anti-avoidance enactment, are connected to a person who is or has been contravening an anti-avoidance enactment, or is connected with arrangements that led to the contravention.

Connection can also arise where a person is involved in making arrangements available, organising or managing them, or benefiting from them.

AAINs can therefore potentially reach well beyond the promoter itself, including businesses and professional or commercial intermediaries involved in an avoidance arrangement.

What information can HMRC seek?

Depending on the circumstances, HMRC can require information from:

• a connected person
• a third party holding information about a connected person
• a person who can identify an otherwise unidentified connected person, or
• a financial institution.

Potentially relevant material includes: marketing material, scheme documentation, implementation manuals, client files, fee arrangements, payment flows, introducer agreements, and system records.

Documents more than six years old generally require additional HMRC authorisation.

Confidentiality and legal privilege

There are some important protections. A notice cannot generally require information covered by legal professional privilege, journalistic material or certain personal records. There are also specific protections for auditors in relation to information obtained in performing statutory audit functions.

HMRC can, however, impose a non-disclosure requirement preventing the recipient of a notice from telling others about the notice or its contents.

What are the consequences of non-compliance?

The regime has substantial financial and criminal sanctions.

For most AAINs, the initial civil penalty for non-compliance is £5,000, with daily penalties of up to £1,000 if the failure continues.

Higher penalties can apply for concealing information or providing inaccurate information.

In serious cases, deliberate non-compliance or concealment can also constitute a criminal offence, with imprisonment of up to two years on conviction on indictment.

There is also an enhanced penalty regime under which, in specified circumstances, a person who continues to withhold information can face a penalty equal to the money or money’s worth received in connection with the avoidance arrangements.

Practical implications

Businesses and advisers involved in arrangements that could potentially fall within the anti-avoidance rules should ensure that they have:

1. Clear document retention and retrieval processes, particularly for material relating to the design, marketing and implementation of arrangements.
2. A clear internal escalation process for any AAIN received.
3. Appropriate legal review, including consideration of privilege, before responding to an AAIN.
4. Controls over communications and document destruction, particularly once HMRC engagement has begun.
5. Careful checking of the accuracy and completeness of responses before information is provided to HMRC.

Bottom line: AAINs provide HMRC with a new and powerful route to investigate the wider network around tax avoidance arrangements. Recipients should treat a notice as a serious statutory requirement, assess its scope promptly and take expert advice before responding or disclosing information to HMRC.