3rd Report - HMRC Customer Service and Accounts

While the use of digital services has increased, HMRC still estimates that 66% of telephone calls could have been handled online. HMRC said this partly reflects customer awareness of the extent of its digital services. It started a campaign in … Read more While the use of digital services has increased, HMRC still estimates that 66% of telephone calls could have been handled online. HMRC said this partly reflects customer awareness of the extent of its digital services. It started a campaign in November 2024 to increase awareness, particularly of its mobile app.26 HMRC said it also reflects a lack of customer confidence, with customers wanting reassurance over the phone that, for example, they have done something correctly online. It said it is increasing the digital communication with its customers, for example by sending SMS messages to Child Benefit claimants to confirm it has received the claim.27 However, HMRC also recognised that not all services are available online and not all customers can go online.28 HMRC estimates around 20% of its customers, or 7 million people, need assistance to use its digital services.29 HMRC said it has increased its support for vulnerable customers by around 20% and has provided £5.5 million of funding to community and voluntary organisations for customer outreach and support.30 21 Q 72 22 Customer service, Figure 7 23 Customer service, para 2 24 Q 54 25 Report on 2023–24 Accounts, para 8 26 Q 73 27 Q 73 28 Q 55 29 Customer service, para 13 30 Q 88 10 Show less

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HMRC said it uses email sparingly due to security concerns.42 Several organisations representing taxpayers and their agents wrote to us to highlight the need for a secure digital way to share files and correspondence with HMRC so that communication by … Read more HMRC said it uses email sparingly due to security concerns.42 Several organisations representing taxpayers and their agents wrote to us to highlight the need for a secure digital way to share files and correspondence with HMRC so that communication by post and phone became the exception.43 HMRC acknowledged that it is clearly behind many other 31 Customer service, paras 17, 3.7 32 Q 92 33 Report on 2023–24 Accounts, para 9 34 Q 81 35 Q 82 36 Q 92 37 Customer service, Figure 1 38 Customer service, para 2.28 39 Customer service, para 1.5 40 Report on 2023–24 Accounts, Figure 6 41 Customer service, para 1.14 42 Q 78 43 HCSA0003 Written evidence submitted by Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales; HCSA0005 Written evidence submitted by Association of Taxation Technicians 11 organisations in providing this facility.44 It said it has been exploring ways to digitise its postal services and liaising with other government bodies through the Central Digital and Data Office in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Government Digital Service.45 It said it envisages customers using the HMRC App and the Personal Tax Account for more secure messaging, and is seeking investment for this development as part of its ‘digital roadmap’.46 44 Q 79 45 Q 80 46 Qq 78-79 12 3 Collecting more revenue Managing tax debt Show less

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HMRC said that its calculation of the tax gap uses estimation and judgement, and that some parts of it are more certain than others.62 It said in October 2024 it published experimental statistics on the proportion of the tax gap … Read more HMRC said that its calculation of the tax gap uses estimation and judgement, and that some parts of it are more certain than others.62 It said in October 2024 it published experimental statistics on the proportion of the tax gap that comes from foreign income. In monetary terms, HMRC 55 Q 36 56 Report on 2023–24 Accounts, para 5 57 Q 15 58 Q 19; Report on 2023–24 Accounts, para 5 59 Qq 16, 19, 33 60 Qq 21-22 61 Q 29 62 Q 20 14 estimated this at £0.3 billion. HMRC said this represents only one aspect of the offshore tax gap and is uncertain, and that the data published in 2024 relates to undeclared or under-declared tax in the year 2018–19.63 Show less

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HMRC does not provide an efficient means for taxpayers to communicate digitally with HMRC. In 2022–23, HMRC received 22 million items of correspondence, including physical post and forms and interactive forms. Approximately 70% of this comes in through the post. Postal correspondence, as well as some electronic correspondence, requires scanning, …

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