Official UK procurement notice
Stage 3 Pilot - HMRC's Competition to Identify Deliberate Evasion and Help Close the Tax Gap
Authority: HM Revenue & Customs (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionStage 3 Pilot contract as part of HMRC's competition. Providing 12 months for suppliers to further develop their ideas.
- How the procedure runs: The competition is being run via HMRC's SAP Ariba portal - see instructions under Submission for how to register for the event. The event is open to all suppliers and all tender documentation is provided on the portal. 5.3 Stage 1: Invitation to submit initial tender (a) Stage 1 commenced with the issuing of a Tender Notice and the publication of this document. (b) This document includes a procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ) and quality questions at Schedules 1 and 2 which all suppliers are required to complete and return in accordance with the Procurement Timetable and instructions within this document. (c) HMRC will use this stage to firstly confirm that neither the supplier, nor any related persons within its corporate group, associated persons relied on to meet the conditions of participation, or proposed sub-contractors are listed on the Cabinet Office debarment list. To the extent that any such entities are listed on the debarment list, HMRC will consider whether to exclude the supplier from participating in the Procurement in accordance with its obligations under the Act. (d) In addition, HMRC will consider whether any supplier or related persons within its corporate group, associated persons relied on to meet the conditions of participation, or proposed sub-contractors are excluded or excludable suppliers, and before HMRC determines that a supplier is an excluded or excludable supplier, it will provide the supplier reasonable opportunity to make representations and provide evidence as is proportionate in the circumstances. If the supplier is an excluded or excludable supplier only by virtue of an associated person or proposed sub-contractor, HMRC will notify the supplier of its intention to exclude the supplier and provide the supplier with reasonable opportunity to replace the associated person or sub-contractor. If as a consequence of this process HMRC excludes the supplier from participating in the Procurement, or is aware of an associated person or sub-contract having been replaced, it will give notice of this fact within 30 days of its decision to the Procurement Review Unit (PRU). (e) HMRC will also undertake a review of the completed PSQ with reference to any information held on the Central Digital Platform. Responses to any conditions of participation will be assessed in accordance with the selection process and any selection criteria as set out in the Tender Notice, PSQ and described in this document. (f) The assessment of suppliers utilising PSQ, as detailed above, will be undertaken prior to the evaluation of bid submissions for stage 1. suppliers are required to submit their PSQ through Ariba. (g) As part of their stage 1 submission, alongside the PSQ, suppliers must submit a video up to a maximum of 5 minutes duration providing their response to the questions set out in Schedule 2: Quality Evaluation Criteria. (h) Suppliers should submit a video using the instructions provided in Section 20 'How to respond to this opportunity' below. Additionally, suppliers must submit a transcript of their video, with a maximum of 750 words. (i) The video and associated 750 word transcript must cover both of the two questions above. The supplier should note that the transcript must answer both questions detailed above, and that the video should be used for supplementary presentation and delivery purposes only - i.e. information that is not well suited to communicating via written (the transcript) or spoken word. For example, acceptable video content would include (but is not limited to) demonstrations, animations, graphs and charts, supporting visual/practical aids etc.). HRMC reserves the right to exclude bidders who utilise the video submission to provide excessive additional content which could have been adequately conveyed in the speech of the video and accompanying transcript. For example, unacceptable video content would include (but is not limited to) a PowerPoint presentation that features significant text that the bidder intends the evaluators to assess over and above the 750 word transcript. (j) Stage 1 will complete with suppliers being notified in writing of whether or not they have been successfully shortlisted to participate in stage 2. Suppliers not invited to stage 2 will be provided with written feedback on why they have not been shortlisted to participate in stage 2. (k) Suppliers successfully shortlisted to participate in stage 2 will be issued with a contract based on the template in Attachment E - Contracts for Innovation - Draft Version and Attachment F - HMRC Mandatory Clauses - Draft Version to support their engagement through stage 2. (l) HMRC intends to shortlist a maximum of 12 suppliers to participate in stage 2. (m) HMRC may, at its discretion, invite a bidder to form a partnership or consortium with another competitor. (n) Suppliers should note that HMRC reserves the right to re-assess any response to the PSQ, in light of any new relevant information that comes to HMRC's attention. 5.4 Stage 2: Solution presentation & demonstration (a) Stage 2 will commence with the issuing of a letter inviting suppliers that have been successfully shortlisted at stage 1 to further develop their proposed solution for a period of approximately 5 weeks. (b) The letter will provide details of how the presentation and demonstration stage will be conducted, including the evaluation criteria and process and the format of the presentation event. (c) The letter will also provide details of any new information made available to suppliers at this stage of the Procurement. 5.5 Stage 3: Pilot (a) Stage 3 will commence with the issuing of a letter inviting suppliers that have successfully passed the downselect at stage 2 to participate in a Pilot stage. This stage will allow suppliers to design, build, test and demonstrate their prototypes in consultation with HMRC. (b) The letter will provide details of how the prototyping and proof of concept stage will be conducted. HMRC anticipates that the Pilot will have a 12 month duration, and funding will be available for up to 3 bidders. The funding available is capped for stage 3, and HMRC does not commit to cover any or all of the bidder's costs for participating in any stage of this competition. HMRC reserves the right to withdraw any funding offer at any time throughout this competition and makes no guarantee as to its availability. (c) Stage 3 will conclude with the issuing of a letter to all participating suppliers confirming the closure of the Pilot stage. 5.6 Stage 4: Final tender (a) Stage 4 will commence with the issuing of a letter at the end of stage 3 inviting suppliers that successfully passed the downselect at stage 2 to submit their final tenders. (b) The letter will provide details of how the final tender stage will be conducted. (c) The letter will also provide details of any new information made available to bidders at this stage of the competition. 5.7 Optional stages & rights (a) HMRC reserves the right to add an optional dialogue or negotiation stage within, or at the end of stage 4. Any use of a dialogue or negotiation stage will be followed by an additional final tender submission. If used, this stage will be described in the letter issued at the beginning of stage 4. (b) HMRC reserves the right to re-run or re-start any stage of the competition at any time. (c) HMRC reserves the right to directly award a contract at any stage during the competition if only a single supplier enters or meets the requirements.
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Software package and information systems
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£5,000,000
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Stage 1 - Skills and Capabilities - Delivering for HMRC: 25%
- Stage 1 - Proposal - Helping to Close the Tax Gap by Identifying Deliberate Evasion Behaviour: 75%
Published award criteria (2)
- Stage 1 - Skills and Capabilities - Delivering for HMRC: Criteria Question 1 for Stage 1 of the multi-stage competition. SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES - Delivering for HMRC With reference to Attachment B - Specification - Stage 1 and Attachment C - Slides from Launch Event 21st July, please demonstrate your skills, ability and capacity to deliver against closing the tax gap by identifying deliberate evasion behaviour. Your response must include: a) An overview of your capabilities as an organisation, b) If bidding in partnership or consortium, an overview of the members within the partnership or consortium and your expected division of responsibilities and capabilities. This question will be scored based on how well the response answers the question and any evaluation criteria included in the question in line with the scoring matrix contained in Table 1 above. Your written transcript response and video submission will be evaluated together.
- Stage 1 - Proposal - Helping to Close the Tax Gap by Identifying Deliberate Evasion Behaviour: Criteria Question 2 for Stage 1 of the multi-stage competition. PROPOSAL - Helping to Close the Tax Gap by Identifying Deliberate Evasion Behaviour. With reference to Attachment B - Specification - Stage 1 and Attachment C - Slides from Launch Event 21st July, please set out your proposed solution for helping to close the tax gap by identifying deliberate evasion behaviour. Your proposed solution does not need to be fully developed at this initial stage, but your response must make clear that your idea is fundamentally viable and deliverable for HMRC within the available timeframe. Your response must include: a) Solution: An overview of your proposed solution, b) Benefits: How your proposed solution will help solve the problem and contribute to closing the tax gap by identifying deliberate evasion behaviour. Your idea must be within HMRC's remit to implement and deliver: for example, your proposed solution should not require major policy changes. c) Implementation: High-level consideration of what dependent inputs from HMRC and/or third parties your solution would need or benefit from in its implementation. (Note: Prior knowledge of HMRC's internal structure, teams and systems is not required for this part and will gain no additional credit - answer this part using industry standard or common-sense terminology). d) Timing: Confirmation that your proposed solution can be developed for implementation in the timeline set out in these tender instructions. This question will be scored based on how well the response answers the question and any evaluation criteria included in the question in line with the scoring matrix contained in Table 1 above. Bidders must score at least 50 unweighted points on this question to be eligible to proceed to stage 2. Scoring 50 or higher is no guarantee of being shortlisted for stage 2. Your written transcript response and video submission will be evaluated together.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 14 Jul 2025, 15:57 BST
- Last source update
- 16 Feb 2026, 11:10 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 11 Feb 2027
- Authority reference
SR2559456746- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-042551- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-055ed0Find a Tender
- How it runs
The competition is being run via HMRC's SAP Ariba portal - see instructions under Submission for how to register for the event. The event is open to all suppliers and all tender documentation is provided on the portal.
5.3 Stage 1: Invitation to submit initial tender
(a) Stage 1 commenced with the issuing of a Tender Notice and the publication of this document.
(b) This document includes a procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ) and quality questions at Schedules 1 and 2 which all suppliers are required to complete and return in accordance with the Procurement Timetable and instructions within this document.
(c) HMRC will use this stage to firstly confirm that neither the supplier, nor any related persons within its corporate group, associated persons relied on to meet the conditions of participation, or proposed sub-contractors are listed on the Cabinet Office debarment list. To the extent that any such entities are listed on the debarment list, HMRC will consider whether to exclude the supplier from participating in the Procurement in accordance with its obligations under the Act.
(d) In addition, HMRC will consider whether any supplier or related persons within its corporate group, associated persons relied on to meet the conditions of participation, or proposed sub-contractors are excluded or excludable suppliers, and before HMRC determines that a supplier is an excluded or excludable supplier, it will provide the supplier reasonable opportunity to make representations and provide evidence as is proportionate in the circumstances. If the supplier is an excluded or excludable supplier only by virtue of an associated person or proposed sub-contractor, HMRC will notify the supplier of its intention to exclude the supplier and provide the supplier with reasonable opportunity to replace the associated person or sub-contractor. If as a consequence of this process HMRC excludes the supplier from participating in the Procurement, or is aware of an associated person or sub-contract having been replaced, it will give notice of this fact within 30 days of its decision to the Procurement Review Unit (PRU).
(e) HMRC will also undertake a review of the completed PSQ with reference to any information held on the Central Digital Platform. Responses to any conditions of participation will be assessed in accordance with the selection process and any selection criteria as set out in the Tender Notice, PSQ and described in this document.
(f) The assessment of suppliers utilising PSQ, as detailed above, will be undertaken prior to the evaluation of bid submissions for stage 1. suppliers are required to submit their PSQ through Ariba.
(g) As part of their stage 1 submission, alongside the PSQ, suppliers must submit a video up to a maximum of 5 minutes duration providing their response to the questions set out in Schedule 2: Quality Evaluation Criteria.
(h) Suppliers should submit a video using the instructions provided in Section 20 'How to respond to this opportunity' below. Additionally, suppliers must submit a transcript of their video, with a maximum of 750 words.
(i) The video and associated 750 word transcript must cover both of the two questions above. The supplier should note that the transcript must answer both questions detailed above, and that the video should be used for supplementary presentation and delivery purposes only - i.e. information that is not well suited to communicating via written (the transcript) or spoken word. For example, acceptable video content would include (but is not limited to) demonstrations, animations, graphs and charts, supporting visual/practical aids etc.). HRMC reserves the right to exclude bidders who utilise the video submission to provide excessive additional content which could have been adequately conveyed in the speech of the video and accompanying transcript. For example, unacceptable video content would include (but is not limited to) a PowerPoint presentation that features significant text that the bidder intends the evaluators to assess over and above the 750 word transcript.
(j) Stage 1 will complete with suppliers being notified in writing of whether or not they have been successfully shortlisted to participate in stage 2. Suppliers not invited to stage 2 will be provided with written feedback on why they have not been shortlisted to participate in stage 2.
(k) Suppliers successfully shortlisted to participate in stage 2 will be issued with a contract based on the template in Attachment E - Contracts for Innovation - Draft Version and Attachment F - HMRC Mandatory Clauses - Draft Version to support their engagement through stage 2.
(l) HMRC intends to shortlist a maximum of 12 suppliers to participate in stage 2.
(m) HMRC may, at its discretion, invite a bidder to form a partnership or consortium with another competitor.
(n) Suppliers should note that HMRC reserves the right to re-assess any response to the PSQ, in light of any new relevant information that comes to HMRC's attention.
5.4 Stage 2: Solution presentation & demonstration
(a) Stage 2 will commence with the issuing of a letter inviting suppliers that have been successfully shortlisted at stage 1 to further develop their proposed solution for a period of approximately 5 weeks.
(b) The letter will provide details of how the presentation and demonstration stage will be conducted, including the evaluation criteria and process and the format of the presentation event.
(c) The letter will also provide details of any new information made available to suppliers at this stage of the Procurement.
5.5 Stage 3: Pilot
(a) Stage 3 will commence with the issuing of a letter inviting suppliers that have successfully passed the downselect at stage 2 to participate in a Pilot stage. This stage will allow suppliers to design, build, test and demonstrate their prototypes in consultation with HMRC.
(b) The letter will provide details of how the prototyping and proof of concept stage will be conducted. HMRC anticipates that the Pilot will have a 12 month duration, and funding will be available for up to 3 bidders. The funding available is capped for stage 3, and HMRC does not commit to cover any or all of the bidder's costs for participating in any stage of this competition. HMRC reserves the right to withdraw any funding offer at any time throughout this competition and makes no guarantee as to its availability.
(c) Stage 3 will conclude with the issuing of a letter to all participating suppliers confirming the closure of the Pilot stage.
5.6 Stage 4: Final tender
(a) Stage 4 will commence with the issuing of a letter at the end of stage 3 inviting suppliers that successfully passed the downselect at stage 2 to submit their final tenders.
(b) The letter will provide details of how the final tender stage will be conducted.
(c) The letter will also provide details of any new information made available to bidders at this stage of the competition.
5.7 Optional stages & rights
(a) HMRC reserves the right to add an optional dialogue or negotiation stage within, or at the end of stage 4. Any use of a dialogue or negotiation stage will be followed by an additional final tender submission. If used, this stage will be described in the letter issued at the beginning of stage 4.
(b) HMRC reserves the right to re-run or re-start any stage of the competition at any time.
(c) HMRC reserves the right to directly award a contract at any stage during the competition if only a single supplier enters or meets the requirements.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 26 Aug 2025, 10:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 31 Jul 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
This procurement will be conducted by way of an eSourcing event using HMRC's SAP Ariba eSourcing Portal. Please ensure you are registered with the eSourcing Portal to gain access to the procurement documentation when it is released which will contain full details of the requirement.
If you are not already registered, the registration link is: hmrc.sourcing-eu.ariba.com/ad/selfRegistration ↗
As part of the registration process you will receive a system generated email asking you to activate your SAP Ariba supplier account by verifying your email address. Once you have completed the activation process you will receive a further email by return confirming the 'registration process is now complete' and providing you with 'your organisation's account ID' number. If an email response from HMRC is not received within one working day of your request, please re-contact [email protected] (after first checking your spam in-box) notifying non-receipt and confirming when your registration request was first made.
Once you have obtained 'your organization's account ID' number, please email [email protected] and copy in [email protected] with your:
- Contract title and Reference
- Your organisation's HMRC SAP Ariba account ID
- Your organisation name
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your telephone number.
Once you have complied with the foregoing you will receive an e-mail confirming access to the procurement event.
Further information about HMRC's procurement tool SAP Ariba, a Suppliers Guide and general information about supplying to HMRC is available on the HMRC website: www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/supplying.htm ↗
If you have already registered on SAP Ariba then you may also need to re-register on HMRC's SAP Ariba in order to be added to the event
Timeline
14 Jul 2025 → 12 Feb 2027 · 10 dates- Planning notice published14 Jul 2025, 15:57 BST
- Next notice expected21 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published23 Jul 2025, 23:58 BST
- Clarification questions by31 Jul 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline26 Aug 2025, 10:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent338 days ago21 Nov 2025
- Standstill ends325 days ago3 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice published250 days ago16 Feb 2026, 11:10 GMT
- Today24 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 110 days11 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 110 days12 Feb 2027
Notice history
11 events · 7 releases on Find a Tender · since 14 Jul 2025- Planned procurement notice published14 Jul 2025, 15:57 BSTUK3
- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Jul 2025, 13:52 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published23 Jul 2025, 16:53 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published23 Jul 2025, 23:58 BSTUK4
- Status changed to active23 Jul 2025, 23:58 BST
- Tender notice published5 Aug 2025, 11:52 BSTUK4
- Deadline moved to 26 Aug 2025, 10:00 BST5 Aug 2025, 11:52 BST+8 days · was 18 Aug 2025, 10:00 BST
- Contract award notice published21 Nov 2025, 20:48 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete21 Nov 2025, 20:48 GMT
- Contract signature expected4 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published16 Feb 2026, 11:10 GMTUK7
Published amendments (1)
Updated to extend the submission deadline.
Routine re-releases (7)
- 2025-07: 4 releases · 14 Jul 2025, 23 Jul 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Limited4 Dec 2025 – 3 Dec 2026 | £279,929 | 21 Nov 2025 | Awarded |
| COEFFICIENT SYSTEMS LTD4 Dec 2025 – 3 Dec 2026 | £280,019 | 21 Nov 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 2 · COEFFICIENT SYSTEMS LTD
- Signed
- 6 Feb 2026
- Value
- £280,000
- Period
- 6 Feb 2026 – 5 Feb 2027
- Status
- active
No agreed KPIs: This contract does not involve the provision of live services. It is for suppliers to develop and test their proposed solutions as part of the ongoing competition. Fixed KPIs at contract outset do not provide the supplier with appropriate flexibility to refine objectives and deliverables for this pilot phase.
Contract 1 · BAE Systems Applied Intelligence Limited
- Signed
- 4 Feb 2026
- Value
- £279,929
- Period
- 6 Feb 2026 – 5 Feb 2027
- Status
- active
No agreed KPIs: This contract does not involve the provision of live services. It is for suppliers to develop and test their proposed solutions as part of the ongoing competition. Fixed KPIs at contract outset do not provide the supplier with appropriate flexibility to refine objectives and deliverables for this pilot phase.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11final-stage tenders | 7 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- BAE Systems Applied Intelligence LimitedAwarded supplier
- Coefficient Systems LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (9)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender