In the latest UK Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced an enhanced US style whistleblowing reward program, effective immediately. HM Revenue and Customs’ Strengthened Reward Scheme, or SRS, is modeled on a long-running IRS program and designed to incentivize whistleblowers to report serious tax avoidance and evasion by offering rewards of up to 30% of tax collected.
However, the success of the program will turn on more than an offer of high-value rewards. Adequate guidance, transparency, and safeguards will all be needed to encourage whistleblowers to come forward.
Introducing enhanced rewards is an important first step, but some features of the SRS—including the limited guidance and support available for whistleblowers, and the discretionary nature of rewards—may hinder the program’s success unless remedied.
The backdrop to the SRS is the government’s focus on closing the tax gap, reported to be 46.8 billion in 2023/24. HMRC’s prior whistleblowing reward regime wasn’t well-publicized, and total payouts in 2024 were less than 1 million. The government likely watched the success of the IRS program with interest: In 2024, it paid out $123.5 million in rewards out of retrieved tax of $474.7 million.
Under the SRS, whistleblowers can receive between 15% and 30% of the tax collected (excluding penalties and interest) where the information provided leads to HMRC collecting at least 1.5 million in tax. Rewards are given at HMRC’s discretion and aren’t...
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