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Wise has told about 4,000 UK customers that tax statements for its investment service contained errors covering the years 2021 to 2025, and is seeking an arrangement with HM Revenue & Customs to settle any tax shortfalls caused by the miscalculations, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, October 8. The fintech also plans to compensate customers who paid too much tax, according to the report.
Wise shares fell 2.6% on Thursday after the report, Investing.com said. The reported customer notification concerns Wise’s investment service, where customers can hold investments in stocks and funds; the errors involved figures for investment income and capital gains that users may need when completing UK tax returns.
Errors affected statements for five tax years
Wise contacted the affected users during the week of October 5, according to the Financial Times report as summarized by Investing.com. The statements at issue covered tax years from 2021 through 2025. The reported cause was a miscalculation by third-party software used to produce investment income and capital-gains figures.
The reported figure of approximately 4,000 refers to customers Wise contacted, not necessarily to people who filed an incorrect tax return or owe additional tax. Wise said that receiving an incorrect statement did not mean every customer paid the wrong amount, since individual tax outcomes depend on personal circumstances.
Wise says it is addressing potential liabilities
Wise said it had fixed the problem and issued corrected statements to affected customers. The company also said it was proactively addressing potential liabilities and that it saw no ongoing risk to customers, according to the report.
The Financial Times reported that Wise was negotiating a “bulk settlement” with HMRC to cover tax shortfalls arising from the error. The report did not specify the proposed settlement amount, how any payment would be calculated, or when an agreement might be reached. Wise was also reported to be compensating customers who overpaid tax, but the available reporting did not give a total expected cost or a timetable for those payments.
Tax statements are guidance, Wise says
Wise’s published UK guidance says customers using its Interest or Stocks investment features can request a tax statement showing income and capital gains they may need to report to HMRC. The company describes the statements as guidance rather than tax advice and says customers remain responsible for ensuring their tax returns are correct.
That division of responsibility does not resolve the reported remediation question: Wise is separately seeking to cover shortfalls linked to its software error and compensate customers who overpaid. Details about how customers should respond to corrected statements, including whether they need to amend previously filed returns, were not provided in the available reporting.
Scale of the investment service and next steps
Investing.com reported that customers globally had invested $9 billion in Wise’s investment service. That figure gives context to the product involved but does not indicate the amount affected by the UK tax-statement error, which the report described as concerning approximately 4,000 UK users.
The immediate next step reported is Wise’s negotiation with HMRC; the reporting did not establish a settlement date or disclose the scale of any customer reimbursements. Wise said corrected statements had been issued, but the number of affected customers who will ultimately need to pay additional tax, amend returns or receive compensation remains unclear.
