Can HMRC demand emails and messages in an enquiry

Q: How might this work in practice?

Illustration only. A self employed electrician is under enquiry. HMRC suspects some jobs were paid in cash and asks for all text and WhatsApp messages on his phone for the last three years. His adviser replies that the phone is used mainly for family messages, offers all messages with customers about quotes and payments, extracted by contact name and keyword, and offers a schedule matching each job to the bank statements. HMRC accepts. Had HMRC issued a notice for the whole phone instead, the family messages could have been challenged on appeal as not reasonably required.

Yes. For HMRC’s information powers a document means anything in which information of any description is recorded, so emails, texts, WhatsApp chats and other electronic messages can all be required by an information notice under Schedule 36 to the Finance Act 2008. The same limits apply as for paper: the material must be reasonably required to check your tax position, must be in your possession or power, and privileged, personal welfare and some adviser communications are protected.

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Does an email or text message count as a document?

It does. Section 114 of the Finance Act 2008 says that any enactment requiring a person to produce a document to HMRC has effect as if the reference to a document were a reference to anything in which information of any description is recorded. A copy is anything onto which that information has been copied, by whatever means. Schedule 36 itself adds, at paragraph 58, that a document includes part of a document.

HMRC’s Compliance Handbook at CH23320 repeats the definition and says the wide meaning covers records held on a computer or similar electronic device. Nothing in the definition treats an email, a text, a direct message on social media or a chat in a messaging app any differently from a letter in a filing cabinet.

Two practical points follow. First, a notice to produce documents only reaches documents that already exist (CH23320), so HMRC cannot use the produce power to make you write something new. Second, HMRC can also require you to provide information, and CH23240 says that providing information can include creating a document, such as an analysis or schedule, to give the information conveniently.

What test must HMRC meet before demanding messages?

Under paragraph 1 of Schedule 36, an officer can require a taxpayer to provide information or produce a document only if it is reasonably required to check the taxpayer’s tax position (or to collect a tax debt). CH21620 explains that the information must be capable of affecting the tax position and that reasonably required means getting the balance right between the burden on the person and how important the information is.

That test does the real work with electronic messages. A request for every email in a mailbox for six years will usually fail it, because most of that material has nothing to do with the tax position. A request for messages with one named customer about cash payments, or with a supplier about a specific invoice, is much easier for HMRC to justify. CH23400 tells officers that any general description in a notice must be genuinely directed to its purpose, limited to exclude as much irrelevant material as possible, and that a notice may be invalid if it is unreasonably burdensome.

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Which messages are protected from an information notice?

Schedule 36 sets out several restrictions that apply to electronic material in the same way as paper.

Possession or power. Paragraph 18 limits a notice to documents in your possession or power. CH22120 says power includes the ability to obtain a copy from whoever holds it, so messages stored by a cloud email provider on your account are normally within your power.
Legal professional privilege. Paragraph 23 protects privileged communications. CH22244 notes that legal advice privilege covers confidential communications between a lawyer and client for legal advice, whether held by the lawyer or the client, but the Supreme Court decided it does not extend to an accountant’s advice on tax law.
Tax adviser communications. Paragraph 25 stops a notice requiring a tax adviser to produce relevant communications that are the adviser’s property. CH22320 lists emails among those communications but stresses that the document must belong to the adviser; the client’s own copy of the same email is not protected by this rule.
Appeal material and personal records. Paragraph 19 excludes information about the conduct of a pending tax appeal and personal records as defined in the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. CH22180 explains that personal records means records about an individual’s physical, mental, spiritual or personal welfare, and that mixed documents can be produced with the welfare information covered up.
Old documents. Paragraph 20 prevents a notice requiring a document that originated wholly more than six years before the notice unless an authorised officer agrees. CH22140 says a document with some recent entries must still be produced, which can apply to a long email thread.

For more on how privilege claims are handled, see legal privilege and information notices.

Can HMRC insist on the whole email thread or on native files?

Usually HMRC wants the whole document. CH23340 tells officers to insist on full documents with nothing covered up unless a statutory restriction applies, to ask what any withheld parts contain, and only to agree to partial production if satisfied the withheld parts could not be relevant. So you can redact privileged or welfare content, but you should not edit out passages simply because they are embarrassing.

Format is a separate question. Paragraph 7 lets the notice specify the means and form of production, if reasonable. CH23360 says a printed copy may be enough, but where it is not, for example with large spreadsheets, HMRC can require the original electronic document or an electronic copy if it has reasonable grounds, and officers should take specialist advice first. Under CH23480 a copy normally satisfies the notice unless the original is specifically required, though HMRC can ask for the original if the copy is unclear or its authenticity is doubted. With emails, that can mean HMRC asking for exported files that keep the metadata rather than screenshots.

How can you limit what you hand over?

Most requests start informally, and CH23050 explains that HMRC moves to a formal notice if the informal approach does not work. That first stage is the best time to narrow the scope. See informal requests and information notices for the difference in your obligations.

Ask which risk or transaction the request is aimed at, then offer the messages that deal with it, identified by sender, recipient, date range and search terms.
Offer the information in another form. CH23480 says HMRC may accept information that is sufficient for the check even if it is not the exact document requested.
Separate business and private accounts. Officers are told at CH23400 to exclude as much irrelevant material as they can, so a clear explanation of what each account is used for helps.
Review for privilege and personal welfare content before production and record what has been withheld and why.
If a formal taxpayer notice is issued and remains too wide, appeal it. Paragraph 32 requires the appeal in writing, with grounds, within 30 days of the date the notice is given, and the tribunal can confirm, vary or set aside the notice. See appealing an information notice.

When is there no right of appeal?

Paragraph 29(2) removes the right to appeal against a requirement in a taxpayer notice to provide information or produce documents forming part of your statutory records, and paragraph 29(3) removes it where the tribunal approved the notice. CH21700 explains that business and VAT records that must be kept for tax become statutory records as soon as they are created. An emailed sales invoice or an email confirming a sale may therefore be a statutory record in its own right, and HMRC can require it without an appeal route. A general chat with a friend about holiday plans is not. Disputes about which side of the line a message falls on can still reach the tribunal on appeal against any penalty, or by judicial review, according to CH21700.

What happens if messages are deleted or not produced?

Paragraph 42 makes it a breach to conceal, destroy or otherwise dispose of a document that is the subject of an information notice, and paragraph 43 extends this to documents an officer has told you are, or are likely to be, the subject of a notice. Deleting a chat history or clearing a phone after a request can therefore be treated as a failure to comply. Paragraph 39 sets a penalty of £300 for failing to comply with a notice, and paragraph 40 allows further daily penalties of up to £60 while the failure continues. See penalties for ignoring an information notice and, for public posts, HMRC’s use of social media evidence.

How might this work in practice?

Illustration only. A self employed electrician is under enquiry. HMRC suspects some jobs were paid in cash and asks for all text and WhatsApp messages on his phone for the last three years. His adviser replies that the phone is used mainly for family messages, offers all messages with customers about quotes and payments, extracted by contact name and keyword, and offers a schedule matching each job to the bank statements. HMRC accepts. Had HMRC issued a notice for the whole phone instead, the family messages could have been challenged on appeal as not reasonably required.

What mistakes do people make?

Assuming messages on a personal phone are private by definition. The test is whether they are reasonably required, not which device holds them.
Assuming emails from an accountant are privileged. Advice from an accountant is not covered by legal advice privilege, and the paragraph 25 restriction protects only the adviser’s own documents.
Deleting messages once an enquiry starts, which risks penalties and an inference of deliberate behaviour.
Missing the 30 day appeal window for a notice that is plainly too wide. The general rules are covered in our guide to Schedule 36 information notices.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.