HMRC Goes Digital: The End of Brown Envelopes

The familiar brown envelopes from HMRC are on their way out. In a drive to modernise the tax system and save £50 million a year in print and postage costs, HMRC will stop sending most letters by post from spring 2026. Instead, taxpayers who use digital services will receive email or text alerts telling them that a new communication is ready to view in their Personal Tax Account or the HMRC app.

This reform sits at the heart of HMRC’s digital-by-default strategy, which aims for 90% of taxpayer interactions to be online by 2029/30. The Finance Bill 2025–26 will allow HMRC to require digital contact information from anyone using online services, so taxpayers will need to ensure their email and mobile details are correct and current.

Importantly, HMRC will not email letters directly. Instead, notifications will prompt taxpayers to log into their secure accounts moving the system away from its long-standing reliance on paper due to data security concerns. Until now, HMRC has largely preferred issuing physical letters.

The move will not apply to everyone. Those who are digitally excluded often older taxpayers or people with disabilities can continue receiving paper correspondence, and HMRC has promised a straightforward opt-out for anyone who needs or prefers postal letters. However, the overall direction is clear: digital will become the norm, with paper retained only where necessary.

Security remains a concern, especially considering last year’s data breach affecting thousands of Personal Tax Accounts. HMRC insists the new system will be secure but collecting accurate contact details from millions of taxpayers—particularly pensioners newly drawn into the tax system—will be a major challenge.

Whether HMRC can successfully deliver this transformation remains to be seen. Some areas, like inheritance tax compliance, remain stubbornly paper-based. Achieving a fully digital approach while reducing reliance on helplines will require significant investment in infrastructure and support.

Still, the message is unmistakable: the doormat is no longer where HMRC news will land. The future of tax communication is digital—and it’s arriving much sooner than many expected.