The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has released their latest report into the service levels and performance of HMRC and highlight a continued decline over the past 5 years.
Since the last report in January 2023, 62.7% of callers had to wait over 10 minutes to speak with an advisor, up from 46% in the previous year.
HMRC have responded and stated that they “do not have the resources to meet rising demand for its phone and post services at their current expected standards” – instead directing people to use digital services which it insists are good quality. However, the PAC received opposite opinions from tax payers and agents (accountants/bookkeepers).
The tax office has attempted to redirect as many people as possible, with automated messages advising of services which are available online, to the launch of chatbots and YouTube videos.
Worryingly, the report stated that HMRC have now resorted to closing customer support channels to avoid people from contacting them to sort out their tax affairs. Over last summer, they closed the Self Assessment helpline for 3 months to try and work on backlogs of work.
The number of people who need to submit a self-assessment tax return has grown in the last decade to include an additional 2 million people, but HMRC have declared they are unable to cope with demand.
Internally, HMRC have even set targets to reduce incoming phone and post contact by 30% by the end of 2025, depending on digital information and services to assist taxpayers.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “We’re making strong progress improving our customer services, with a focus on encouraging people to deal with us online where they can by providing quicker, easier and always available digital services.”
They added that millions more people used HMRC’s online services last year, “saving them waiting on the phone and freeing up our advisers to deal with those people who need extra support”.
