HMRC says the hotline is part of its increased fight against tax fraud and it wants to involve the public in the battle. In the last financial year HMRC received over 113,000 reports from members of the public providing information to the department.

This joint service will replace the two separate tax evasion and customs hotlines with one, streamlining HMRC’s intelligence gathering on tax fraud.

Customers can report all kinds of tax fraud and evasion on the new hotline, including PAYE and National Insurance fraud, undisclosed offshore investments, non-payment of the National Minimum Wage, tax credit fraud, failure to pay UK duty, tax evasion and VAT fraud.

Jennie Granger, HMRC’s director general for customer compliance, said: “Information provided by the public is a crucial element of HMRC’s work to close the tax gap, so it’s vital that the reporting process is as simple and accessible as possible.

“The HMRC Fraud Hotline will form an important part of our intelligence gathering operations to bring in more money for the Exchequer and the country.”

The HMRC Fraud Hotline - 0800 788 887 – is open between 8am - 8pm seven days a week, 365 days a year. Suspected tax evasion and fraud can also be reported via gov.uk.