HMRC’s Connect data platform helped secure £4.6bn in 2024/25, enabling 540,000 compliance cases. That haul is around 35% above the recent annual average of £3.4bn attributed to Connect-led enquiries.
Launched in 2010, Connect pulls information from numerous internal and external sources, including third-party providers and merchant acquirers. It maps relationships across datasets to reveal patterns that humans would struggle to spot, speeding up risk profiling and case selection. HMRC says the system does not examine people’s emails or browser histories or monitor social media through Connect.
Use is widespread: 4,300 HMRC staff can access the platform to support investigations. The department has also confirmed a partnership with Palantir, the US data analytics company, to apply advanced techniques to HMRC data. Palantir’s Foundry software already underpins parts of the NHS Federated Data Platform by linking operational data across trusts and regions.
An HMRC spokesperson described Connect as “a powerful analytical tool we have used since 2010,” adding that it helps the department recover tax that would otherwise go unpaid. Successive chancellors have channelled extra funding into compliance, and closing the £40bn-plus tax gap remains a priority.
The Labour Government wants an additional £5bn a year from compliance activity by the end of this parliament in 2027. With broader datasets and better tooling and investigators, Connect is expected to remain central to HMRC’s drive for tougher, smarter enforcement while reassuring compliant taxpayers that they will be treated fairly.
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