Cuts to HMRC helplines hit callers in pocket

Taxman’s helpline puts people on hold for average of 47 minutes, at an estimated cost of £33m

Cuts to the number of staff manning HMRC helplines cost customers £4 for every £1 saved and left taxpayers waiting for an average of 47 minutes for their calls to be answered, MPs revealed. The public accounts committee warned that plans for further cuts could lead to another “collapse” in customer service and would “chill the blood of many taxpayers”.

CUTS to HMRC helplines have cost customers £4 for every £1 saved and left taxpayers waiting for an average of 47 minutes for their calls to be answered, MPs have revealed.

The Commons public accounts committee (PAC) warned that plans to cut the number of staff at HMRC by a third by 2021 could lead to another “collapse” in customer service and will “chill the blood of many taxpayers”.

It said that last year a decision by HMRC to save money by cutting 5,600 staff led to “unacceptable” waiting times as people spent more than 4 million hours waiting for their calls to be answered. The waits were so long that more than a quarter of people simply gave up trying to get through after being put on hold, the MPs said.

The report found that the long waiting times cost customers an extra £33 million in terms of the “value of their time” and the cost of making the phone calls. “Savings were more than offset by the increased burden on taxpayers,” the report says.

Meg Hillier, the chairman of the committee, said: “The prospect of HMRC making further cuts to spending on customer service will chill the blood of many taxpayers.

“HMRC’s recent performance in this area has been appalling for long periods and left members of the public counting the cost in time and money.

“It is bad enough that people trying to pay their fair share of tax should have been kept waiting for so long.

“But holding for HMRC’s helpline has hit them in the pocket too – a serious concern for those on low incomes and a dismal message to send to small businesses, the self-employed and anyone else simply seeking advice.”

The report said that the service improved last year after HMRC recruited and trained 2,500 extra staff in response to the crisis. However, MPs have expressed fears that planned cuts of 34 per cent by 2021, as HMRC moves the tax system online, will cause another major drop in standards.

Mrs Hillier said: “HMRC has serious work to do before this committee is confident it can provide a consistent, efficient service that properly meets the needs of taxpayers and optimises tax revenue.

“Efforts to meet government spending targets must not come through illconceived measures that effectively penalise the people departments are intended to serve.”

In its recommendations to the Government, the committee states that HMRC should calculate how much it is costing callers and “should use this information when considering resource needs to ensure the optimal balance is struck between its own costs and those borne by customers.”

An HMRC spokesman said: “This is an inaccurate, out of date reflection of our phone performance. We acknowledge that service levels in the early part of last year were not acceptable and we apologised at the time.

“But the PAC is well aware our phone lines have since fully recovered and we are now offering our best service levels in years. Wait times are now below five minutes and customers consistently rate the support they receive on the phones as excellent.”