The appointment of exchequer secretary James Murray MP to chair HMRC’s board came as part of a package of reforms announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her speech at the Labour Party Conference earlier this week. 

As a non-ministerial department, HMRC traditionally operates at arm’s length from government ministers and is run by civil servants.

Murray, who is the minister responsible for the UK’s tax system, replaces businesswoman Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, who has been lead non-executive director (NED) and chair of the HMRC board since November 2020. Gadhia, a former CEO of Virgin Money, remains on the board as lead NED.

Traditionally, ministerial oversight of HMRC has been handled by the financial secretary to the Treasury, but that role’s limited scope has come under fire recently in parliamentary debates about the Loan Charge and HMRC’s poor customer service. Murray contributed to both debates. The current financial secretary to the Treasury is Lord Livermore, who was appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer in July.

The UK’s self-employed association IPSE has praised the appointment of a government minister to chair HMRC’s board following recent criticism of the department’s performance – marking the first time a political official has held the position.

IPSE’s policy director Andy Chamberlain said: “For the chancellor to break with convention and charge a minister with keeping a closer eye on HMRC is a bold step – but the right one.

“Taxpayers have become immensely frustrated with the service they’re getting from the taxman and feel they have no recourse through elected officials when the department acts unfairly.

“We’ve been campaigning for stronger ministerial oversight of HMRC as a means to turn the ship around and build more trust between taxpayers and the taxman. We welcome (James) Murray’s appointment as chair of HMRC’s board and look forward to supporting his work on HMRC’s strategic priorities.”

Murray’s appointment is “to help oversee the implementation of his three strategic priorities for HMRC: closing the tax gap, modernising and reforming, and improving customer service”, the Treasury said in an announcement.

He was part of a board of experts convened by Labour in the run-up to the general election to advise on its efforts to “modernise” HMRC and improve tax compliance.

The appointment comes as part of a package of HMRC reforms announced on Monday, which include a new digital transformation roadmap and a move towards electronic invoicing.

The digital transformation roadmap, which will be published next spring, will “set out HMRC’s vision to be a digital-first organisation underpinned by customer insight”, according to the Treasury. It will include measures to ensure digital inclusion and support for customers who cannot yet interact digitally.

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