HMRC denies running a 'deliberately poor' phone service
22 January 2025, 09:17
HMRC has been accused of running a 'deliberately poor' phone service by a Parliamentary committee, cutting-off customers after an hours wait.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
HMRC cut off nearly 44,000 customers in the first eleven months of last year, with some waiting for an hour to speak to an adviser.
Customers were not warned they were about to be cut off and they weren't called back, either.
The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee released a report, accusing HM Revenue and Customs of running a 'deliberately poor' phone service, to forcing users to go online and use their digital services.
Sir Geoffrey Clinton-Brown MP, chair of the committee, said that HMRC were "excavating its way to new lows" in its customer service delivery.
The committee expressed concern that the phone service "has damaged trust in the tax system" and that the "already poor service to taxpayers has become even worse."
The caller figures were published by the National Audit Office in May last year, but the committees of MPs believe that it is getting worse.
HMRC's chief executive Jim Harra said: “The committee’s claims about our customer service are completely baseless.
"In reality we’ve made huge improvements to our service standards, with call wait times down by 17 minutes since April last year.”
In 2023-24 HMRC answered 66.4% of calls, against their internal target of 85%.
Average call waiting times in the same period exceeded 23 minutes, which is a 7 minute increase from the 2022-23 period.
Jim Harra said: "We will always be there to answer the phone for those who need extra help.
"At the same time, more than 80 per cent of customers are satisfied with our digital services, with more and more people using them to quickly and easily manage their tax affairs."
The volume of calls to the service may have increased ahead of the deadline for self-assessment tax returns, due on 31st January.
This comes as HMRC staff are set to walk out days before the self-assessment online tax return deadline.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) confirmed its members employed by a private firm at HM Revenue and Customs are set to walk out on the last two days of January.
The union said more than 300 workers employed by Fujitsu Services UK at offices across the country have been offered a pay rise of just 1.5 per cent.
However, their in-house colleagues received a 5 per cent raise this year for doing similar jobs.
Members voted by 87 per cent for strike action and by 95.6 per cent for action short of a strike.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: "There is no excuse for workers employed by Fujitsu being offered less than those employed directly by HMRC."
