ICAEW and the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) have issued a joint appeal for increased investment in HMRC’s customer services, following the preliminary findings of a study conducted by the Institutes. The study, which took place between September and October this year, examined tax agents’ experiences with HMRC through helplines and webchats.

According to the data, 85% of attempts to contact HMRC resulted in agents connecting with an adviser, suggesting that recent investments in HMRC’s customer service infrastructure have improved connection rates. However, the research also highlights ongoing issues, with 25% of enquiries remaining unresolved and 41% of agents needing to contact HMRC again.

Ellen Milner, CIOT’s Director of Public Policy, says: “This new evidence backs up what we have been increasingly hearing for a number of years – HMRC’s customer service levels are a serious blocker to willing people being able to get their tax affairs right and to their agents being able to support them. The poor service undermines HMRC’s Charter commitments and has a damaging impact on growth and investment.

“HMRC’s strategy is based on diverting most enquiries to their online guidance or automated digital assistant, but this simply does not work for many queries. And even where it does, too many callers are either being cut off or giving up due to unacceptably long wait times.

“We hope that this new data will help inform HMRC and the government to see that, unless and until automated digital services are substantially improved, HMRC must be provided with more resources and use them to provide all-year-round, well-publicised help and advice to taxpayers from a human adviser over phone and webchat.”

Frank Haskew, Head of Taxation at ICAEW, echoes the concerns, noting that unresolved issues in HMRC services directly affect the UK’s economic performance. “It’s vital that the Chancellor uses the Budget to invest in and encourage HMRC to improve the quality of service that taxpayers and our members tell us about daily,” he says. “Agents play a key role in the tax system and if they can’t work effectively, there is a significant knock-on effect on the economy.”

Haskew also emphasises the need for HMRC to expand its digital services, as many interactions between taxpayers and HMRC still require human intervention. He stresses that further investment is necessary to enhance these services.

The findings from the study are part of a larger project, with the full report expected to be published later this year. Both CIOT and ICAEW hope their recommendations will influence HMRC’s approach to customer service and help drive improvements in the future.