Recommendation 2

Taxpayers’ trust in HMRC is falling. Trust in a tax authority is vital for the authority to effectively discharge its role as it affects the willingness of taxpayers to engage and pay the correct amount of tax on time. HMRC says that trust has to be at the centre of everything that it does. In July 2020 HMRC and HM Treasury said they wanted to gradually increase the trust of taxpayers in HMRC. But since then, trust in HMRC has fallen among large businesses, small businesses, agents and individuals. HMRC’s customer charter promises to provide services that are designed around what the customer needs to do, and are accessible, easy and quick to use. 4 HMRC recognises that the lower service levels it has provided in recent years have affected levels of trust. The proportion of agents who reported finding it easy to deal with tax issues reduced from 50% in 2019 to 38% in 2023. recommendation a. HMRC should work with taxpayers and their representatives to understand why trust in HMRC is falling and what it can do to quickly address the decline. b. HMRC should publish the concerns it has heard and the actions it is taking to address these, as a first step to improving trust.