“We are coming for you”: Tax Minister

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will carry out more than 30,000 interventions on the high street in 2026 to 2027 as part of a scaled-up effort to dismantle criminal networks involved in tax fraud, labour exploitation, and the sale of illicit tobacco and vapes.

The announcement was accompanied by a series of unannounced visits to six souvenir shops across central London this week, which HMRC said reflected its intensified work to tackle illegal activity on the high street.

Officers from HMRC were joined by colleagues from Home Office Immigration Enforcement, Westminster Council Trading Standards and the Metropolitan Police.

According to HMRC, the teams checked shops selling royal family, London, and UK-themed gifts, along with magic and wizarding products. The visits resulted in full till data downloads at all locations, with tax compliance enquiries to follow.

The Home Office made three arrests for immigration-related offences and issued a £40,000 civil penalty to a business for employing an illegal worker. Trading Standards seized goods worth £5,433, including 289 disposable vapes, 173 squishy toys, counterfeit bags, hats, scarves, and unsafe travel adapters.

HMRC said it would use the intelligence gathered in its investigations to inform future action against illegal activity on the high street.

Thousands of interventions planned

The department said the 30,000 interventions in 2026 to 2027 would include unannounced visits, tax and organised crime investigations, seizures, and warning letters.

HMRC and its partners will carry out UK-wide investigations targeting what the department described as the controlling minds and enablers behind high street harm, including those using vape shops, barbers, souvenir shops, candy stores, and convenience stores as fronts for money laundering and tax crime.

The interventions will target cash-intensive businesses across the full spectrum of tax risks, businesses involved in money laundering and National Minimum Wage breaches, and the sale of illicit goods such as vapes and tobacco.

HMRC also said it would clamp down on rogue directors who repeatedly shut businesses and reopen elsewhere.

The department added that it would tackle till fraud by targeting the providers and end-users of electronic tools used to manipulate sales records, conceal sales, and evade tax.

At last year’s Budget, the Chancellor announced a new team of 350 criminal investigators to tackle evasion by small businesses. HMRC said these investigators had now been recruited, with around half of their work focused specifically on disrupting harmful high street businesses and the people behind them.

Minister issues a warning

Minister issues warning

Dan Tomlinson, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said HMRC was stepping up its action against illegal activity on the high street.

“Owners of dodgy shops that are evading tax: we are coming for you,” he said.

Tomlinson said too many high streets had been blighted by illegal activity that harmed local communities and undercut honest businesses, adding that the government was determined to fix the problem.

“We’re increasing our action across the UK to target the criminals using shops as a front for tax evasion, money laundering and fraud,” he said. “This is a sustained, nationwide effort and HMRC and its partners will use every power available to dismantle these criminal networks.”

Part of a wider crackdown

The action builds on existing work across government. Last month, the Home Office launched a new High Street Organised Crime Unit with £30 million of funding, bringing HMRC together with other government departments, Trading Standards, policing partners, and the National Crime Agency (NCA).

HMRC also pointed to November’s Operation Machinize 2, a cross-agency initiative led by the NCA that saw HMRC deploy more than 160 officers across the UK. According to HMRC, NCA operations led to 924 arrests and the seizure of £13 million in suspected criminal proceeds.

Operation Machinize is an operational intensification period targeting criminal exploitation of high street businesses.

It is led by the NCA and conducted in co-operation with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, police forces, Regional Organised Crime Units, Immigration Enforcement, Trading Standards, HMRC and Companies House.

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