£37M SAP overhaul could extend Capgemini's run with UK tax collector to 28 years

The UK tax authority, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), has awarded Capgemini a £37 million contract to migrate a crucial tax system from SAP's outdated ECC platform to the newer S/4HANA platform. This move extends Capgemini's relationship with HMRC, which began in 2004 under the Aspire contract, potentially making it a supplier to the tax collector for 28 years.

The £37 million contract, which runs until 2032, covers 40,000 users who rely on the Enterprise Tax Management Platform (ETMP) for tax accounting, payments, and data management. The system processes over £800 billion in tax revenue and payments annually. Capgemini initially became HMRC's lead technology supplier in 2004, with Fujitsu and Accenture serving as subcontractors.

In 2014, the National Audit Office estimated that HMRC would spend £10.4 billion on the Aspire contract, exceeding the initial £4.1 billion estimate. In 2022, Capgemini secured a £51 million, three-year contract for run and change services for ETMP and Enterprise Operations (EOPS). HMRC denied that the new ETMP contracts with Capgemini were extensions of Aspire, although some services continued beyond the original contract's end in 2017.