Credit Score Basics > Do credit reports read HMRC details?

Do credit reports read HMRC details?

Wollit Team2 minute read · Updated 16th September 2024

In the UK, credit reports are an important tool that lenders use to decide whether you are a responsible borrower. These reports have a ton of information about your credit history, including details about credit accounts, payment history, and public records.

However, they don’t include information from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the UK's tax authority. This isn’t to say that HMRC doesn’t check your credit report in certain situations. Here’s how it works.

What information is usually included in my credit report?

A typical UK credit report will include this sort of information:

Personal details: name, date of birth, current and previous addresses
Electoral roll information: whether you are registered to vote at your current address
Credit accounts: details of credit cards, loans, mortgages, overdrafts, etc. including credit limits, balances, and payment history
Public records: County Court Judgments (CCJs), Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), bankruptcies, etc.
Searches: a record of when lenders have accessed your credit report, either because you applied for credit or they periodically review your account

This information is used by lenders to assess the risk of lending to you and to make decisions about whether to offer you credit, what credit limits to provide, and what interest rates to charge.

Does a UK credit report include HMRC or tax information?

No, a standard UK credit report does not include any information from HMRC or about your tax situation. The credit reference agencies that compile credit reports (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) do not have access to HMRC's tax records and do not include this information in credit reports.

The only way HMRC may be involved with your credit report is if you have a County Court Judgment (CCJ) recorded against you for unpaid taxes. A CCJ is a matter of public record and will appear on your credit report for 6 years, even if you later pay the debt. However, the CCJ itself is a court judgment, not a direct reporting from HMRC.

Does HMRC ever check my credit report?

While HMRC does not contribute information to your credit reports, they do use data from credit reference agencies for certain compliance activities.

For example, in 2011, HMRC piloted using data from credit reference agencies to identify potential cases of tax credit fraud, such as claimants who were living with an undisclosed partner. HMRC has contracted with Experian to help identify these cases, and claimants identified may receive letters from HMRC requesting information.

However, this use of credit reference agency data by HMRC is for their own compliance purposes – basically, to find tax fraudsters. The credit report itself remains separate from HMRC's tax records.

How can I improve how my credit report looks to lenders?

To make sure that your credit application is accepted, you shouldn’t worry about whether the lender talks to HMRC. They don’t really care about your tax paid.

However, what lenders do care about is your ability to repay the loan. This means sufficient income and a strong credit history.

Luckily, there are many ways you can improve your credit history – one of this is by downloading a credit-building app like Wollit.

Wollit works by reporting a fixed fee monthly subscription as a loan repayment to the credit reference agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion). This helps you build or rebuild your credit history by showing that you can pay debt on time. It can even report your monthly rent payment to Experian, adding another line in your credit report that shows lenders you're responsible and pay your bills when they’re due.

In time, this will help you improve your credit score so you won’t need to be worried about any credit check ever again.