ICAEW.com works better with JavaScript enabled.

TAX NEWS

HMRC performance continues to be poor

Article

Published: 09 Aug 2022 Update History

HMRC’s performance data for April to June 2022 demonstrates that the promised return to normal service levels from April 2022 has not occurred. HMRC is now striking a more pessimistic note on performance recovery.

HMRC’s monthly and quarterly performance reports for April to June 2022 have been published along with a commentary, much of which refers to what happened in 2021/22, rather than the last quarter.

Key statistics include:

  • Average call waiting time increased from about 15 minutes in March to 19 minutes in April before improving to 13 minutes in June. Pre COVID-19 the target was 5 minutes.
  • Percentage of people waiting more than 10 minutes remains at around 60% but was more than 70% in April. The pre COVID-19 target was 15%.
  • Percentage of calls answered: Performance dropped from 71% of calls being answered in March to 66% in April, before improving to 79% in June.
  • Correspondence turnaround: Having improved to 65% in March, the percentage of correspondence turned around within 15 working days has declined each month and was 59% in June.
  • Debt balance: After peaking at £72bn in 2020, HMRC’s debt balance reached its lowest point since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2022 at £38.8bn. Since then, it has increased to just over £42bn at the end of June 2022. HMRC is forecasting that, given the current economic conditions, the debt balance will remain broadly static through 2022/23.
HMRC reduced its stock of correspondence from a peak of 3.3m items in July 2021 to 1.9m (around four weeks’ receipts) by March 2022. However, HMRC has not disclosed how that statistic has changed during April to June 2022.
 
As in its previous update, HMRC attributes the continuing service problems to:
  • Extremely high volumes of repayment claims (90% more than usual), mostly related to working from home expenses;
  • IT issues as it made vital upgrades to improve system security and resilience; and
  • Diversion of resources to urgent priorities including providing support for Ukraine visa processing.

HMRC says: “We expect to see continuing pressure on our services for some time, but we’re maintaining service levels across most areas of our business and we’re focussed on continuing to deliver improvements for our customers in the remaining quarters of the year.”

HMRC helpline opening hours continue to be significantly shorter than before the pandemic.

Members are encouraged to report service issues that are not client specific on HMRC’s agent forum. Emerging issues are with the new VAT registration service and unprocessed self assessment tax returns, including some 2020/21 returns submitted online before the January 2022 deadline.

ICAEW’s Tax Faculty continues to engage with HMRC and other professional bodies on what could be done to improve the experience of taxpayers and agents.

Tax Faculty

This guidance is created by the Tax Faculty, recognised internationally as a leading authority and source of expertise on taxation. The Faculty is the voice of tax for ICAEW, responsible for all submissions to the tax authorities. Join the Faculty for expert guidance and support enabling you to provide the best advice on tax to your clients or business.

More support on tax

ICAEW's Tax Faculty provides technical guidance and practical support on tax practice and policy. You can sign up to the Tax Faculty's free enewsletter (TAXwire) which provides weekly updates on developments in tax.

Sign up for TAXwireJoin the Tax Faculty
The future of tax after COVID

As digital technologies transform society, the UK government is grappling with balancing the books while ensuring its tax system is fit for purpose. Join us as we take a look at the issues and challenges facing the tax system.

Read more

More from the Tax Faculty

Latest news
Making tax digital image
TAXwire

Stay up to date with the latest developments in tax by signing up to the Tax Faculty's weekly e-newsletter

Practical guidance
Cover
TAXline

Comprehensive support for Tax practitioners each month from the Tax Faculty and expert contributors.

Technical support
Tax Faculty image
Webinars

Expert advice from the Tax Faculty's technical managers on all the developments in tax policy and practice.

Open AddCPD icon

Add Verified CPD Activity

Introducing AddCPD, a new way to record your CPD activities!

Log in to start using the AddCPD tool. Available only to ICAEW members.

Add this page to your CPD activity

Step 1 of 3
Download recorded
Download not recorded

Please download the related document if you wish to add this activity to your record

What time are you claiming for this activity?
Mandatory fields

Add this page to your CPD activity

Step 2 of 3
Mandatory field

Add activity to my record

Step 3 of 3
Mandatory field

Activity added

An error has occurred
Please try again

If the problem persists please contact our helpline on +44 (0)1908 248 250