People face 23-minute wait for HMRC helplines

Taxpayers are facing much longer waits for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) helplines, according to a new report.

The spending watchdog found customers waited on average nearly 23 minutes to get through to an adviser in the first 11 months of 2023-24, up from just five minutes five years before.

The findings come after HMRC was forced to reverse its decision to close its self-assessment telephone helpline for half of the year after a public outcry.

The tax authority is still keen to move people towards online options.

It has been trying to address long helpline waiting times amid intense criticism of its services.

According to the new report from the National Audit Office (NAO), HMRC has not yet done enough to raise awareness of its digital services or understand how they may or may not meet customers' needs.

It said the move to digital has not relieved pressure on traditional services as much as the tax body expected.

It found many customer calls are caused by HMRC itself for reasons including delays and customers chasing progress.

The NAO suggested that taxpayers were being "let down".

Some 4.7 million hours were spent by HMRC customer service advisers answering and handling calls in 2022-23, down from five million in 2019-20.

Advisers answered 22% fewer calls in 2022-23 than in 2019-20, but those that were answered took more time to handle on average.

The time taken to handle each call answered by an adviser also went up from just over 11 minutes to more than 13 minutes.

But call handling times could be increasing because HMRC's strategy is focused on pushing customers with simple queries like checking tax codes towards its online portal, leaving agents free to speak with customers on the phone about more complex matters.

In an effort to cut costs though, the tax authority is planning to reduce the number of customer services staff, the report said.

It found that at the beginning of this financial year, HMRC needed to reduce the number of call handlers by 14% within the next 12 months to make sure it doesn't exceed its budget.

Long call waits 'no surprise'

The head of the organisation, Gareth Davies, said that while many of the newer digital services on offer were working well, "they have not made enough of a difference to customers".

"HMRC must allow more time for these services to bed in and understand the difference they make before adjusting staffing levels," he added.

Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said that delays and troubles getting through on the phone compounded stress for entrepreneurs who have received letters saying there is a problem with their taxes.

Dame Harriett Baldwin, chairwoman of the Treasury Committee, said that the findings would come as "no surprise" for customers who had faced long waits.

She added that an extra £51m announced by the Treasury this week aimed at freeing up HMRC staff to answer more calls was "welcome", but said "questions remain regarding how they plan to implement their strategy going forward".

An HMRC spokesperson said: "While customer service standards on our phone lines are still not where we want them to be, we're making strong progress in our efforts to improve our customer service and additional funding has been confirmed by the government this week."

They said that millions more people used its online services last year, and encouraged customers to opt for the app where they can.

"But, as we have recognised, these changes need to happen at a speed and in ways that our customers are comfortable with," they added.