Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
23rd Report - The cost of the tax system
Public Accounts Committee
HC 645
Published 30 April 2025
Conclusions (2)
15
Conclusion
Acknowledged
We asked about taxpayers’ declining trust in HMRC. HMRC said there had been a decline in trust globally with governments and with public bodies, and it was also subject to that decline. It told us that it had not been providing services up to the standards it wanted to, and …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the observation about declining trust and outlines its ongoing efforts to improve trust, including understanding drivers, using customer surveys, and improving services and processes.
20
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The Spending Reviews in 2020 and 2021 enabled HMRC to increase its compliance staffing. In 2021–22, CCG recruited mainly senior staff to undertake compliance work. Around the same time, HMRC was reducing its frontline customer service workforce, most of whom were in lower grades. These two changes were the main …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the context of compliance staffing by detailing record compliance yield, plans to recruit an additional 5,500 staff by 2030, and expected productivity increases, implicitly justifying the investment in staff despite increased costs.