Does HMRC send text messages?

Yes. HMRC publishes a list of the text campaigns it runs, and on 9 September 2026 that list held twelve types, from Child Benefit confirmations to a debt recovery campaign running from 15 June to 14 December 2026 and a P800 tax refund campaign added on 24 August 2026. What every genuine campaign has in common is the direction of travel: the text tells you something or confirms something. HMRC states that it will never ask for personal or financial information when it sends text messages. A text that wants your details, your bank account or a click to claim money is not on the list.

Will HMRC text me about a tax refund?

It can, in two narrow shapes. The Self Assessment tax refund campaign, running since 25 March 2025, confirms that a refund you already claimed is being processed and when the payment should arrive. The P800 campaign, added 24 August 2026, tells you a refund is due after HMRC wrote to you and the letter went unanswered. Neither asks for your bank details and neither carries a link to claim. A text that says you are owed money and gives you a link to get it is the single most common bogus HMRC message, and GOV.UK's own phishing examples page shows exactly that one.

How do I check if a text from HMRC is genuine?

Check it against the calendar on this page, then against the two rules. First, does the text match a campaign HMRC currently lists, on GOV.UK's page titled Check if a text message you've received from HMRC is genuine? Second, does it ask you for anything: personal details, financial details, or a click? HMRC says it never asks for personal or financial information by text. If the message asks, it fails, whatever the sender name says. If you are still unsure, do not use anything in the text. Sign in to the HMRC app or your account on GOV.UK by typing the address yourself, and see whether the same matter is there.

What number does HMRC text from?

HMRC does not publish a single short code the way US banks do. Instead it describes branded messages: on phones that support them, a genuine text shows HM Revenue and Customs as the sender, with the HMRC logo and verified sender information. Where branding is not supported the message may arrive as plain text. That is why the content test matters more than the sender test in the UK: a name can be spoofed, but the request cannot be hidden. If it asks, it is not HMRC.

How do I report a fake HMRC text?

Three routes, and they do different things. Forward the text to 60599, HMRC's own number for suspicious texts; HMRC notes that network charges apply. Forward suspicious HMRC emails to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk. Forward any suspicious text to 7726, which is free and goes to your mobile network so the sender can be blocked. If you tapped a link and entered details, also contact your bank on the number on your card, and report the fraud to Report Fraud, which replaced Action Fraud in December 2025; our UK reporting guide has the full map.

I entered my details on a fake HMRC page. What now?

Treat it as a bank problem first and a tax problem second. Call your bank on the number printed on your card, tell them exactly what you typed, and ask them to watch the account or reissue the card. Change the password on your HMRC login and on any account that shares it, and turn on two-step verification in the HMRC app. Report the text to 60599 and 7726 and the fraud to Report Fraud. Then expect the second con: anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to recover money for a fee is running the recovery scam, aimed at people who have already been caught once.

UK · DOES IT TEXT YOU? · THE CALENDAR9 September 2026 · 9 min read

HMRC does text you. It publishes exactly which texts. The one in your hand either matches the list, or asks for something the list never does.

Most advice about HMRC texts says "HMRC never texts", which is wrong, and which is why people who know better get caught. HMRC runs a dozen text campaigns and lists them on GOV.UK. What no campaign ever does is ask.

genuine HMRC text campaign types listed, Sep 2026

of them ask for personal or financial details

60599

HMRC's number for forwarding suspicious texts

14 Dec 2026

when the current debt recovery campaign ends

The short answer

Yes, HMRC sends text messages, and it publishes which ones. On 9 September 2026 GOV.UK listed twelve genuine campaign types, including Child Benefit confirmations, Self Assessment refund updates, a debt recovery campaign running to 14 December 2026, and P800 refund notices added on 24 August 2026. Every one tells you something or confirms something. HMRC states it will never ask for personal or financial information by text, so a text that wants your details, your bank account, or a click to claim a refund is not HMRC, whatever name it shows. Forward it to 60599, and to 7726 for free.

"HMRC will never ask for personal or financial information when we send text messages."
HM Revenue and Customs, GOV.UK guidance "Check if a text message you've received from HMRC is genuine", last updated 24 August 2026. The same page is where HMRC adds and retires its campaigns.

The reason the blanket "HMRC never texts" advice fails is that the fakes copy the shape of the real ones. A genuine Self Assessment refund text exists. So the bogus version says "refund" too, then adds the one thing the genuine one is not allowed to contain: a link to claim it. The defence is not to memorise sender names. It is to know what the genuine list looks like, and then to notice what the message asks you to do.

The calendar: what HMRC is actually sending, and when

HMRC maintains this list itself, with the date each campaign was added and, where a campaign is time-limited, its window. The page was last updated on 24 August 2026, when the P800 refund campaign went on it. This is that list, reorganised so the dates are the first thing you see.

The calendar · genuine HMRC text campaignsGOV.UK, updated 24 Aug 2026 · read 9 Sep 2026

P800 tax refunds

added 24 Aug 2026

a refund is due after a letter went unanswered; no personal details requested, no link

Debt recovery

15 Jun to 14 Dec 2026

a missing payment, a credit on the account, or a hold with a bank

Child Benefit

updated 7 May 2026

claim received, extension requests, opt-in and opt-out confirmations, account changes

PAYE and Self Assessment complaints

from 27 Apr 2026

the status of a complaint review, and that a call is coming

PAYE Settlement Agreement

from 28 Feb 2026

a summary after a helpline call, and how long a query will take

Corporation Tax

added 5 Feb 2026

a summary after a helpline call, confirmation a query is being processed, timescales

Fast parcel operator drivers

from 18 Jun 2025

confirmation of an interview letter, appointment reminders

Self Assessment tax refunds

added 25 Mar 2025

a refund is being processed and when the payment will arrive

Self Assessment penalty appeals

standing

an appeal is under review, and when to expect the outcome

Confirmation and update messages

standing

a claim, form or letter has been received

Post-contact surveys

standing

a feedback request after a call or a compliance check

Branded messages

standing

shown as HM Revenue and Customs, with the HMRC logo and verified sender information

Twelve campaign types HMRC lists as genuine on 9 September 2026. Every one of them tells you something or confirms something. None of them asks you for anything. HMRC adds and retires campaigns; GOV.UK is the page to trust when this table is older than the text in your hand.

Two rows deserve a word. The debt recovery campaign is the one most likely to arrive unexpected, because it concerns money HMRC says you owe, and a fake built on it would not need to invent a threat. Its window ends on 14 December 2026; a "debt" text after that date does not match a listed campaign. And the branded messages row is HMRC's answer to the sender question: where your phone supports it, a genuine text shows HM Revenue and Customs as the sender with the HMRC logo. Where it does not, the message can arrive as plain text from a number, which is exactly why the next section matters more than this one.

Two recreated phone screens side by side. Left, a genuine-shaped HMRC text branded as HM Revenue and Customs confirms that a Self Assessment repayment is being processed and says HMRC will not ask for personal or financial details. Right, a fake from a mobile number says a tax refund of £312.60 is waiting and gives a link, with the dot replaced by brackets so it cannot be tapped. — Recreated examples, not screenshots of real messages. The genuine one is a recreation of the shape GOV.UK describes for the Self Assessment refund campaign, not HMRC's verbatim wording. The fake follows the refund-with-a-link message GOV.UK shows on its phishing examples page. The link is inert.

The one test that beats every fake

Read the twelve rows again and notice the direction. Confirms. Tells. Reminds. Summarises. Asks how the call went. Not one campaign asks you to give HMRC something. That is not an accident of this year's list; it is HMRC's stated rule, and it is the whole test.

Does it ask? A genuine HMRC text never asks for personal or financial information. It does not ask you to click to claim a refund, to confirm your bank details, to pay a penalty by a link, or to reply with anything sensitive. If the message asks, it fails, and you do not need to identify the sender to know it. If it passes, you still act on it only by signing in to the HMRC app or GOV.UK yourself, never through the message.

—"You are due a tax refund, click to claim." The classic. Genuine refund texts confirm a refund already in progress and give no link. GOV.UK's phishing examples page, updated 15 December 2025, shows this exact bogus shape: a refund promise with a hyperlink to a page that wants your details.

—"Pay this penalty now to avoid prosecution." HMRC's debt recovery texts exist and can mention missing payments, but a genuine one does not carry a payment link or a deadline measured in hours. Payment is made in your HMRC account, which you open yourself.

—"Confirm your details to keep your Child Benefit." The Child Benefit campaign confirms changes you made. It does not ask you to confirm anything, and it never asks for a bank account.

—Any text that arrives in the first person from "an HMRC officer". Campaign texts are automated confirmations. A conversational message with a name, a case number and a phone number to call back belongs to the impersonation calls we take apart in the digital arrest breakdown, not to any listed campaign.

From the field. The bogus HMRC text is built on a true fact, which is what makes it good. HMRC really does send refund texts now, and the person who half-remembers that is more exposed than the person who thinks HMRC never texts at all, because the first person has a reason to believe. That is why I will not tell you to trust your instinct about the sender. Put the message next to the list, then ask the only question the list can answer: is it giving, or is it asking?

The safest move never depends on judging the text at all. Do not tap, do not reply, do not call a number in the message. Open the HMRC app, or type gov.uk into the browser yourself and sign in. A real refund, a real debt, a real complaint update is there. A fake one is not, and the absence is the answer.

Where to send a bogus one, and why each route matters

—60599, HMRC's own number for suspicious texts. Forward the message as it arrived. HMRC notes that network charges apply. This is how HMRC learns which lures are running and gets the lookalike sites taken down.

—phishing@hmrc.gov.uk, for suspicious emails. The same team; attach or forward the email rather than retyping it.

—7726, free, to your network. Forwarding to 7726 (it spells SPAM) goes to your mobile operator, which is the only party that can block the sending number for everyone else.

—Report Fraud, if you lost money or entered details. Action Fraud was replaced by Report Fraud in December 2025. Our UK reporting guide has the current map, including the refund rule that now requires banks to reimburse authorised push payment fraud up to £85,000.

If you already tapped, or already typed

1.Call your bank on the number on your card and say exactly what you entered on the page. Ask them to watch the account or reissue the card.
2.Change your HMRC password and any password you reuse, from a device you trust, and turn on two-step verification in the HMRC app.
3.Forward the text to 60599 and 7726, then report the fraud to Report Fraud if money moved or details were taken.
4.Check what the money route was. A card payment has a chargeback; a transfer you were talked into has the UK reimbursement rule; whether a bank refunds scammed money depends on which one you have.
5.Expect the second call. Anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to recover the money for a fee is running the recovery scam.

HMRC's texts have one grammar: they tell you things. The moment a text switches to asking, it has left the list, and it has left HMRC.