Taxman ‘must do better’
A damning report by the UK’s public spending watchdog has declared that taxpayers are being let down by poor HMRC customer service.
The National Audit Office (NAO) says HMRC has been caught in “a declining spiral of service pressures and cuts.”
The stark findings have led to calls from small business for “urgent improvement” in service levels.
That NAO report says: “Customers cumulatively spent 798 years on hold waiting to speak with HMRC in 2022-23 – more than double the time spent waiting in 2019-20.”
It adds that in 2022-23, HMRC spent £881million on customer service and that performance has “been below expected levels for telephone and correspondence for almost all of the last five years”.
The watchdog says: “HMRC’s strategy is to encourage customers to turn to its digital services first so that queries can be resolved quickly and easily online. This is intended to cut costs servicing telephone calls and correspondence, as well as free up staff to serve people who need extra support.
“However, it is not clear how far and fast digital will reduce demand for telephone and correspondence services. Digital services are better suited for straightforward queries and reporting changes in customers’ circumstances.
“HMRC has not yet done enough to raise awareness of its digital services, increase customers’ confidence in using its online offering or understand how effectively these services meet customers’ needs.”
Tina McKenzie, Policy Chair, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said: “The finding by the NAO that nearly half of all calls to HMRC go unanswered says a lot.
“Tax compliance is a huge headache for small firms, who spend on average 52 hours a year trying to sort out how much they need to pay, at a collective cost to small firms of £25billion, an eyewatering sum.
“The long delays, troubles getting through, and struggle to speak to someone who can actually help rather than read from a script compound the stress for small business owners who have received letters from the tax authority saying there is a problem with their taxes.
“We have previously criticised HMRC’s ‘guilty until proven innocent’ approach to its communications with small firms, which can leave business owners in a state of panic.
“Every minute they’re unable to get through to someone who can help them sort things out means more worry and more alarm, which is why investment in HMRC’s customer service resources is so vital.
“Digital avenues for support certainly have their place, and many small business owners are perfectly happy to use them.
“But there are some times when speaking to a real person is the only way to get something sorted, especially for queries which are anything other than totally straightforward.”
She added: “The UK tax code is 10 million words long, and it’s impossible for small firms to match the in-house tax and finance expertise of their larger rivals. As well as improving customer service levels, HMRC should focus on ensuring that the guidance it provides is clear and as simple as possible to digest.”
Responding to the report, HMRC accepted that customer service standards relating to its phone lines were “still not where we want them to be”, but added: “We’re making strong progress in our efforts to improve our customer service, and additional funding has been confirmed by the government this week.”
A spokesperson said: “Millions more people used our highly rated online services last year, saving them waiting on the phone and freeing up our advisers to deal with those people who need extra support.”
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