Wise Pledges HMRC Settlement and Customer Refunds After Software Error Sends Incorrect Tax Statements to 4,000 UK Clients
Wise Pledges HMRC Settlement and Customer Refunds After Software Error Sends Incorrect Tax Statements to 4,000 UK Clients #
London-based money transfer firm Wise has notified roughly 4,000 UK customers that they received incorrect tax statements on their investments over a four-year period. The company is negotiating a bulk settlement with HM Revenue & Customs and plans to refund customers who overpaid.
The affected customers hold accounts under Wise’s Interest and Stocks products, part of its Wise Assets investment service, which allow customers to earn returns on their account balances by routing money into investment funds, including some offshore vehicles. Errors in software supplied by a third-party provider caused the platform to produce incorrect capital gains and income figures. Customers who relied on those figures when completing UK self-assessment tax returns may have declared and paid the wrong amount of tax. The flawed statements cover the period from 2021 through 2025.
Wise said it uncovered the problem through internal quality-control processes. “We have fixed the issue, issued corrected statements to affected customers and are proactively redressing potential liabilities, with no ongoing risk to customers,” the company stated. It has engaged HMRC directly and is in discussions about a settlement that would cover any resulting tax shortfalls in aggregate. It has also committed to compensating customers who paid more than they owed.
The company noted that receiving an incorrect statement does not automatically mean a customer submitted an inaccurate return, since individual circumstances, including changes in income, unused allowances, or other factors, affect each person’s final tax bill.
News of the error triggered a 2.6% fall in Wise’s share price. The disclosure adds to a series of regulatory and legal pressures facing the fintech. Earlier this year, Belgian authorities launched a money-laundering investigation connected to the company’s accounts, and the US Federal Reserve rejected Wise’s banking licence application in July, citing longstanding deficiencies in its anti-money laundering controls. Chief Executive Kristo Kaarmann was fined £350,000 by the Financial Conduct Authority in October 2024 after he failed to disclose his own significant tax issues during a regulatory fit-and-proper assessment.
Wise, which listed in London in 2021 at a valuation of close to £9 billion before shifting its primary listing to the United States, said the underlying software fault has been resolved and that affected customers will face no lasting financial detriment.
Copy link