HMRC Awards Quantexa £175 Million AI Deal to Fight Fraud and Cut Errors Over 10 Years
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 14
HMRC Awards Quantexa £175 Million AI Deal to Fight Fraud and Cut Errors Over 10 Years
4 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 14
A 10-year, £175 million contract will bring Quantexa’s AI tools into HMRC to detect fraud, correct tax-return mistakes faster and improve overall performance.
Quantexa said the system will combine HMRC records with external data to uncover hidden networks of companies and individuals, trace legitimate payments sent under wrong reference numbers and support customer-service staff.
Human reviewers will still check AI-driven taxpayer decisions, with Quantexa saying the tools must remain transparent, auditable and explainable and that HMRC data will stay inside the tax authority’s environment.
More than 93,000 complaints were made about HMRC in 2024-25, up from just over 70,000 in 2020-21, with slow response times a major source of dissatisfaction.
The award to a British firm valued at $2.6 billion aligns with the government’s push for digital sovereignty amid concern over reliance on large US tech suppliers.
Can a £175 million AI deal fix HMRC's deep-rooted service issues and rebuild public trust?
With AI linking vast data, what stops innocent taxpayers from being wrongly targeted by algorithms?
Is the UK's 'digital sovereignty' push creating tech independence or just new national monopolies?