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HMRC is “deliberately” offering taxpayers poor customer service, according to a report by MPs which found waiting times have reached record levels.
The tax office strongly refutes the report’s claims that it has “deliberately” provided poor service, but a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report published today shows service levels have continued to deteriorate.
Average call wait times reached record levels and exceeded 23 minutes in 2023/24, up from 16 minutes and 24 seconds in 2022/23.
The report also found that HMRC responded to only 66.3 per cent of customers’ attempts to speak to an adviser, below its target of 85 per cent. It last met its annual target for telephone services in 2017/18.
A major factor has been the increased demand for HMRC services, as a result of more people paying taxes due to the tax burden. The tax office says it does not have enough resources to meet telephone demand.
However, MPs have accused HMRC of deliberately degrading its own telephone services, “willing to let them fail, in the hope that people will be forced to connect”.
Waiting times increase: The average waiting time for calls has increased to over 23 minutes
The report warns that it has damaged public confidence in the tax system, cutting off 44,000 calls to customers who had been waiting for 70 minutes without explanation.
‘Does not provide a callback option. You cannot provide callers with accurate information about expected call wait times.
“He planned to close the helplines with only two days’ notice to taxpayers, and then reversed his decision when there was an entirely predictable public reaction.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Chairman of the Committee, said: ‘Given that citizens have no choice but to engage with HMRC, it has a responsibility to aim for the highest standards of service.
‘Unfortunately, what we have instead is a tax authority that each year seeks new lows in service levels. Worse, it appears to be downgrading its own services as a matter of policy. “HMRC is an organization in defensive mode and needs bold and ambitious leadership to begin charting its recovery.”
HMRC has pushed to move most of its services online as part of its Making Tax Digital plan, claiming that 66 per cent of the 37 million calls it received last year could have been made online.
However, MPs say that given the difficulties taxpayers have faced with their telephone services, “we have doubts that HMRC’s digital services are as good as HMRC claims.”
PAC also said the tax office had rushed to restrict access to its telephone services, before ensuring replacement digital services were fully rolled out.
HMRC told the PAC inquiry it did not have enough resources to deal with more taxpayers thanks to frozen thresholds pushing more people into paying tax.
And although it received £51m of extra funding last year to cover 1,500 more staff, MPs warn the service will deteriorate further if it struggles to meet demand.
Among their recommendations to the tax office, MPs are calling on HMRC to reinstate a call wait time target and ensure customers have accurate estimates of call wait times, rather than using the previous day’s average.
While telephone services have declined, HMRC has improved in other areas. In 2023/24, HMRC received 22 million publications, forms and interactive forms, 70 per cent of which required scanning or manual entry.
In 2021/22, HMRC achieved just 45.5 per cent within its 15 working day target, but this improved to 76.3 per cent in 2023/24. However, it still falls short of its 80 percent goal.
Sir Geoffrey said: ‘There is some hope in our report. HMRC has now secured more funding to enable it to deal with what it is owed and has a welcome new aim of narrowing the gap in unpaid taxes.
‘We urge you to use your new resources not only to look for low-hanging fruit, but to do more to recover older debts so they do not become bad, as well as to better understand what else may be hidden abroad.
“In addition, if your plans are serious about reducing your prosecutions, you should also explain what may be the best means of deterring criminal tax evaders.”
Jim Harra, first permanent secretary and chief executive of HMRC, said: ‘The committee’s claims about our customer service are completely unfounded. We’ve actually made big improvements to our service standards, with call wait times reduced by 17 minutes since April last year.
‘We will always be there to answer the phone for those who need additional help. At the same time, more than 80 percent of customers are satisfied with our digital services, and more and more people are using them to quickly and easily manage their tax affairs.’
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