In a move that reeks of desperation rather than innovation, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has unveiled its latest gimmick: letting callers use their voice as a password to “speed up” its abysmal phone service. Announced by James Murray, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, this voice recognition trial—borrowed from the banking sector—is being touted as a solution to the tax authority’s chronic failures. But let’s not kid ourselves: this is nothing more than a shiny distraction from the real problem—HMRC’s utter incompetence at answering the phone.
For years, HMRC has been a punching bag for taxpayers, and deservedly so. Tens of thousands of calls go unanswered, while those who do get through are left languishing on hold, watching their precious time—and sanity—drain away. The delays are legendary, a Kafkaesque nightmare for anyone trying to navigate the labyrinth of UK tax bureaucracy. And now, instead of hiring more staff, streamlining processes, or—dare we suggest—actually fixing the system, HMRC’s grand plan is to slap a voice-activated Band-Aid on the mess and call it progress.
James Murray claims this tech will let callers pass security checks “faster and more securely.”
Faster?
Perhaps, if you ignore the fact that the bottleneck isn’t just security—it’s the sheer inability of HMRC to pick up the damn phone.
More securely? That’s a laugh. This is the same organisation that’s been lambasted for data breaches and shoddy IT systems in the past—forgive us if we don’t trust them to handle biometric voice data with the care it demands.
What’s next?
A cheerful recording of “Your call is important to us” while hackers waltz off with our vocal fingerprints?
The rollout, expected across HMRC phonelines by the end of 2025, feels less like a solution and more like a PR stunt to dodge accountability. Trialling a system banks have used for years isn’t groundbreaking—it’s playing catch-up. Meanwhile, the root causes—underfunding, understaffing, and a culture of indifference—fester untouched.
Taxpayers aren’t clamouring for sci-fi voice tricks; they just want someone to answer the phone before their lunch break ends.
Let’s be clear: HMRC’s call-handling crisis isn’t a minor hiccup—it’s a national disgrace. This voice recognition scheme might shave a few seconds off the ordeal for the lucky few who get through, but it does nothing for the thousands left in limbo, their pleas for help echoing into the void. James Murray and his Treasury cronies can dress this up as “improvement” all they like, but it’s lipstick on a pig. Until HMRC gets serious about tackling its systemic rot, this is just another hollow promise from a government that’s all talk—and no answers.
Tax does have to be taxing.
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HMRC is an echo chamber that plays down criticism or ignores altogether.
ReplyDeleteThey'll nominate themselves for some meaningless gong and tart it up as Best of British Innovation.
Government department with the most pissed off punters. They'd be a surefire winner with that too.
So it allows people to get in the queue quicker. Doesn't solve them not having enough staff or the staff being so low paid they look to move out of the grade that answers the phones asap.
ReplyDeleteHMRC is a Cash Cow to Fujitsu, unfortunately the staff aren't getting what they deserve despite the monopoly money entering the coffers.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the money going? Better ask Elon Musk DOGE to pay HMRC a visit.
The industrial action will last just over a month according to the article. I'm sure there will be no knock on effect for the department at all.
It all stinks.
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366620678/Major-strike-by-Fujitsu-staff-at-cash-cow-HMRC
Another monumental shit show awaits, which will be dismissed as teething troubles.
ReplyDeleteMTD issues only have a two year backlog to resolve, let's pile more misery on to employers.
https://www.ukauthority.com/articles/hmrc-to-launch-paye-online-portal-in-april/