Unlock Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The UK tax authority is “looking to downsize” its telephone helplines and is “willing to let them fail” in its push to push taxpayers towards online services, an influential group of cross- party MP ended.

HM Revenue and Customs “was too quick to restrict access to its telephone services before ensuring that replacement digital services were fully in place”, the House public accounts committee said of Commons on Wednesday.

“All (HMRC) customers have a legal obligation to pay their taxes so there is a responsibility to engage with them,” said Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the public accounts committee. “If I were a teacher marking HMRC’s homework, I would give it a ‘could be better’ or a ‘requires improvement’.”

The tax authority began its move to use digital services in 2010 with the aim of providing online support to customers, freeing up telephone lines for vulnerable individuals and those with complex needs. .

But the demand for its helplines remains high. A report released in May by the National Audit Office spending watchdog found that taxpayers collectively spent the equivalent of almost 800 years on HMRC’s hold in 2022-23 – more than double the amount in 2019-20.

Sir Jim Harra, chief executive of HMRC, said the committee’s claims were “completely unfounded”. The tax authority has cut call waiting times to around 11 minutes compared to around 28 minutes in April 2024.

He added: “We are always there to answer the phone for those who need extra help. At the same time, more than 80 percent of customers are satisfied with our digital services. “

MPs said in their report that HMRC should “reintroduce a target call waiting time as a key performance measure” and “ensure it provides customers with accurate estimates of times on call waiting in real time”.

The report urged the tax authority to scrap its policy of cutting off phone calls when a customer is put on hold for 70 minutes. In 2023-24, HMRC will end more than 43,000 calls in this way, which is six times from the previous year, according to the NAO.

In March 2024, HMRC stalled plans to dramatically cut its helplines with just two days’ notice following a backlash from professional bodies.

MPs also called on HMRC to take more action to reduce the money owed to the agency. The tax authority’s debt balance grew to £43.9bn in March 2023, up from around £15bn in the five years before the pandemic.

The government announced £303 million of extra funding in 2023-24 to help HMRC manage tax debts, but the balance fell to 2 per cent – or £900 million – in March 2024.