Calls for HMRC to invest in its services and staff

A joint study has made suggestions on how HMRC could save 1.7 million hours if they simply eliminated their ‘progress chasing’ calls.

The study ran for six weeks and tracked attempts to contact HMRC across phone lines and webchats, finding that more than a third of contact attempts were made to chase progress on existing enquiries, rather than to make a new one.

The Tackling HMRC’s Customer Service Challenge report, carried out by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and ICAEW, found that just 33% of contact attempts to HMRC resulted in the query being fully resolved, with the average wait time across phone and web chat standing at 19 minutes.

The results show that HMRC could save more than 1.7 million hours each year, the equivalent of 1,000 full-time employees or approximately £36 million, if it were to introduce an automated tracking system to eliminate progress chasing calls.

A total of 10 recommendations were made in the report, which focused on HMRC’s services, staff and digitalisation.

Ellen Milner, CIOT’s Director of Public Policy, said, “We are grateful to the firms whose participation in our study has, for the first time, provided a comprehensive dataset evidencing where HMRC customer services are not meeting agent needs, and the impacts this has.

“The report’s recommendations are practical solutions which can deliver significant improvements for agents and taxpayers. Additionally, from an HMRC perspective, resolving issues with progress chasing alone has the potential to save them over £36 million a year in staff costs. This seems a good place to start for releasing funds for much needed investment in training and digitalisation.

“We hope HMRC and the government will take our proposals into account in their work to improve customer services and in providing facilities like progress trackers when drawing up the much-anticipated digital roadmap, which we expect to see in the spring.”

Frank Haskew, ICAEW Head of Taxation, added, “While we support HMRC’s digital transformation, this study has identified critical gaps in their digital services. As a result, many agents are forced to phone about tasks that they should be able to do online. It is essential that HMRC’s support for taxpayers and agents remains robust and effective during this transition period, ensuring agents can effectively and efficiently manage their responsibilities in the here and now.”

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