HMRC Losing Almost 800 Devices per Year – Guido Fawkes

HMRC Losing Almost 800 Devices per Year

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The Daily Express has today splashed Guido’s story from last month which revealed that the Ministry of Defence has lost over 260 devices in the first two months of 2025. A dozen a day to keep the Russians away?

Guido has also been keeping tabs on slippery fingers over at the offices of HMRC, which employs roughly the same number of civilian staff as the MoD. The tax overlords are even worse than defence officials for losing tech – who would’ve guessed…

In the last year HMRC has lost 389 phones, of which 22 were stolen. 127 laptops have been lost or stolen in that period too. If you exclude MiFi dongles the total losses of IT equipment stand at 782 since April last year – 156 of which took place in 2025. The agency is refusing to say how much all that tech is worth because it would “prejudice commercial interests.” Tax minister James Murray is making a song and dance out of his plans to reform the agency to improve performance. He could start by letting staff know they are allowed to use phones more than once…

UPDATE: An HMRC spokesperson said “We take quick action to deactivate any lost or stolen devices and investigate all security incidents, taking steps to reduce future recurrences.”