{"slug": "hmrc-promises-fully-digital-inheritance-tax-by-2028-as-ai-delivers-protection-of", "title": "HMRC promises fully digital inheritance tax by 2028 as AI delivers ‘protection and recovery of £10bn’", "summary": "HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has pledged to deliver a fully digital inheritance tax service by 2028, building on user-centered design and prototyping. The department's annual report also reveals that AI and advanced analytics have enabled the protection and recovery of £10bn in tax between 2025 and 2026, with a chief AI officer appointed in April 2026 to oversee responsible AI advancements.", "body_md": "##### The department’s annual report reveals a range of tech transformation initiatives – including the likes of digital nudges, analytics, and AI – intended to support improvements in the delivery of taxation services\n\nHM Revenue and Customs has pledged that, by 2028, ongoing transformation work will deliver a “fully digital service” to support the administration of inheritance tax.\n\nPlans to digitise inheritance tax were first set out in the budget delivered in October 2024. Since then, HMRC has made progress in laying the groundwork for this move, according to an assessment provided by the department’s recently published annual report for the 2025/26 year.\n\n“We are designing the digital Inheritance Tax service around clear and evidenced user needs,” the report says. “Throughout 2025 to 2026, we worked closely with executors, agents, trustees and HMRC caseworkers to understand their requirements and the challenges they face. This included building and testing early prototypes with users to ensure the service is shaped by real feedback.”\n\nGoing forward, the tax department will continue to build the new service with the input of those who will ultimately use it – with an entirely online process expected to up and running within two years.\n\n### Related content\n\n[HMRC reveals £770m service modernisation investment in FY26](https://www.publictechnology.net/2026/07/15/economics-and-finance/hmrc-reveals-770m-service-modernisation-investment-in-fy26/)[HMRC lifts lid on £1bn-plus programme to ‘create a generational shift in customer service’ with single taxpayer view](https://www.publictechnology.net/2026/04/02/economics-and-finance/hmrc-lifts-lid-on-1bn-plus-programme-to-create-a-generational-shift-in-customer-service-with-single-taxpayer-view/)[HMRC ‘marginally ahead of plan’ on channel-shift objective](https://www.publictechnology.net/2026/06/01/economics-and-finance/hmrc-marginally-ahead-of-plan-on-channel-shift-objective/)\n\n“This user‑centred approach is guiding our technical design and will underpin the modern, fully digital service scheduled to launch from 2027 to 2028,” the report adds.\n\nHMRC’s efforts to introduce new technology into its tax operations has also included the increasing use of artificial intelligence – which the report claims is already having a significant impact on the Exchequer.\n\n“AI and advanced analytics has already enabled the protection and recovery of £10bn in tax between 2025 and 2026, and we are continuing to work at pace in this area, appointing our first ever chief AI officer in April 2026, to provide clear leadership and ensure the AI advancements that we make are responsible,” the document adds.\n\nElsewhere, more additional revenue has been brought in by increasing the use of so-called nudges in HMRC’s online services – reminding users of their tax responsibilities. The inclusion of these features has come as a result of cooperation between the department and software providers accredited to support the Making Tax Digital regime.\n\nThe report says: “Throughout 2025 to 2026, we worked with commercial software providers and agents to support 3.2 million small businesses to correctly claim business expenses by setting digital nudges that provided advice whilst the customer completed their return. This approach, alongside targeted communications to 1.2 million customers, led to more accurate reporting and brought in £36.4 million additional revenue in 2025 to 2026, with the full impact of around £250 million over five years. We are upgrading our IT and data infrastructure so that we can deliver more of these digital nudges in real time.”", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hmrc-promises-fully-digital-inheritance-tax-by-2028-as-ai-delivers-protection-of", "canonical_source": "https://www.publictechnology.net/2026/07/17/society-and-welfare/hmrc-promises-fully-digital-inheritance-tax-by-2028-as-ai-delivers-protection-and-recovery-of-10bn/", "published_at": "2026-07-17 10:13:51+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-17 10:31:11.166711+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy", "ai-products", "ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["HMRC", "HM Revenue and Customs"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hmrc-promises-fully-digital-inheritance-tax-by-2028-as-ai-delivers-protection-of", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hmrc-promises-fully-digital-inheritance-tax-by-2028-as-ai-delivers-protection-of.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hmrc-promises-fully-digital-inheritance-tax-by-2028-as-ai-delivers-protection-of.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/hmrc-promises-fully-digital-inheritance-tax-by-2028-as-ai-delivers-protection-of.jsonld"}}