UK HMRC sent 81,000 crypto tax warning letters in 2025/26, nearly triple the prior year, with penalties up to 100% of unpaid taxes and new offshore disclosure powers coming.
Regulation & Gov ·
The UK's HM Revenue and Customs has escalated enforcement activity against crypto holders, issuing more than 81,000 warning letters during the 2025/26 financial year to those suspected of unpaid taxes—nearly triple the volume from the prior year. The surge in notices reflects HMRC's focus on unreported gains accumulated during the 2022–2025 crypto market rally. Tax obligations can arise from selling, gifting, swapping, or spending cryptocurrency, and penalties for non-compliance reach as high as 100% of unpaid amounts alongside accrued interest.
Enforcement tools are set to expand further in the coming year when HMRC gains new authority to compel offshore cryptocurrency firms to disclose customer information. The authority estimates this disclosure regime will generate £315 million in recovered tax revenue by 2030. The breadth of the warning letter campaign—nearly trebling from approximately 27,714 notices in 2024—signals a marked shift in tax compliance scrutiny across the crypto sector.
It remains unclear how many recipients will ultimately face formal assessments, what portion of the £315 million projection depends on voluntary disclosure versus compulsory enforcement, or whether additional regulatory changes will accompany the offshore disclosure powers.