MPs have given HMRC three months to improve “unacceptable” levels of customer service in a damning report.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was "unconvinced" that HMRC's plans to address its problems would work quickly enough.
It comes just days after MPs wrote to Jim Harra, head of HMRC, expressing “serious concerns” that the taxman's generous work from home policy was causing taxpayers to be left waiting on the phone in the run-up to the self-assessment deadline. Many callers were forced to wait an hour or more for HMRC to answer their queries or were cut off before receiving a response.
The PAC said it was “surprised” to learn that in the past HMRC had sometimes closed its telephone line because it could not cope with demand. “It is not acceptable not to answer calls from people who are trying to pay the government money,” the MPs wrote.
The report warned that HMRC’s customer service will only get worse as inflationary pressures squeeze its spending power. The MPs gave the taxman three months to write to the Committee with a plan to improve customer service "as quickly as possible".
Susan Ball, president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, whose evidence was referenced in the report, said:
“Our members tell us every day of the delays they face getting answers and action from HMRC – and the impact this is having on businesses and individuals.
It is crazy that people trying to get help from HMRC on paying the right amount of tax find it so difficult to get through, especially when an estimated £3bn a year is lost to the Exchequer from non-deliberate taxpayer error.”
HMRC plans to address delays by investing in digitising the tax system, but the PAC said it was unconvinced this would be enough to improve customer service.
All very well giving HMRC a 3 months or else deadline, but we all know that when it misses that deadline (and it most assuredly will miss that deadline) nothing will happen to it!
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ReplyDeleteBelieve me when I say, I know the culture like the back of my hand and I know the character of the typical employee, which became worse in the latter years of my service.
**If there is widespread working from home at HMRC, I can almost guarantee that there will be widespread fraud across the department. There will be staff committing fraud at this very second, i.e. sitting at home, watching television, browsing the internet, walking the dog etc, when they are supposed to be working. You know, that inconvenient thing that the taxpayer pays them so well to do.**
What an absolute disgrace. Sack the lot of them.
As the saying goes, ," It takes one to know one!"
DeleteI concur with 12/1 @12:53. Speaking a lot of truth. That's why you have triggered people like comment 13/1 @21:12.
DeleteYou have got to the heart of the HMRC culture.
The calibre of HMRC staff nowadays is such that they would be turned away by the pound shops due to lack of integrity and lack of basic intelligence.
Well done for bravely speaking the truth.
No debate, just sack all the lazy parasites at HMRC
DeleteFrom a p*ssed off taxpayer who is forced to pay the useless eaters' wages
What's brave about it?
DeleteHe/she is typing anonymously on a site read by only a few people.
They have digitised the Tax System on a rolling program since the late 80s. Starting with Green screen computers from Concards.
ReplyDeleteThey waste people's time and money. Keeping you hanging on for an hour, then just cutting you off. Hollow slogans and fake gongs is all HMRC is good for.
Total Shite.
Utter contempt for its customers. HHRC don't offer a fit for purpose service and then have the audacity to fine customers for late filing, many of those same customers have probably given up in trying to get advice over the phone. I mean who has the time to sit for an hour waiting for some halfwit with the IQ of a sloth to answer the phone? About time government looked at a complete overhaul of HMRC.
ReplyDeleteYou have insulted sloths.
Deletehttps://www.theepochtimes.com/house-will-vote-on-bill-to-abolish-irs-replace-income-tax_4976736.html
ReplyDeleteDaily Mail has an article today about the 'suggestion' of abolishing Income Tax for Over 50s as an incentive to return to work.
Perhaps the reason that you can't get HMRC on the phone is that they're going to close soon too. Just a thought...
@12 January 12.53
ReplyDeleteHow many industries that went to homeworking do you think this "shirking" effected? Yes, 100% of them, both public AND private sector.
The team I worked on (I've retired now) were, and still are, conscientious and work in difficult circumstances. But thats ok, let everyone get tarred with the same brush.