HMRC service standards lambasted

29 July 2011 Last updated at 23:00 GMT The tax authorities are not as welcoming as they should be, the MPs found The way taxpayers are treated by HM Revenue & Customs has been lambasted by MPs on the Treasury select committee.

Their latest report says public dissatisfaction risks undermining public confidence in the tax system.

The worst problems were in getting tax offices to answer phone calls at peak times and "endemic" delays in replying to letters.

HMRC said it had taken steps to improve its service in the past year but admitted it had "more to do".

"We have recruited 1,000 additional contact centre advisers to manage exceptionally busy periods this year," said a Revenue spokesman.

"We have improved the way we deal with post, for example, rapidly reducing turnaround times on PAYE and self-assessment post.

'Disturbing'

The MPs report blamed bad management, demoralised staff, excessive job cuts, and increasingly complex tax laws for the poor level of service it had discovered.

"The evidence we have received in this inquiry has been disturbing," the MPs said.

"HMRC's delivery of services to the general public has fallen to unacceptable levels in several areas.

"There is considerable dissatisfaction among the public and tax professionals with the service provided by the department," the MPs added.

Frank Haskew, of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), doubted that the situation would improve.

"Given the necessity to reduce the current 70,000 staff by a further 10,000, we are not convinced that HMRC have the resources or the capability to deliver on improving service standards," he said.

'Damaging impact'

This concern about the future was echoed by the MPs. They said that the HMRC did a good job in collecting taxes.

But they were worried that the quality of service for taxpayers could become even worse.

They pointed to:

excessive reliance on the internet for filing tax returns, or giving information, to the disadvantage of those without good internet connections "overly ambitious" computer projects such as the forthcoming plan to make employers submit "real-time" data for the PAYE systemthe continuing legacy of unresolved tax discrepancies from past years still affecting millions of tax payerssenior management's approach to running HMRC which the MPs described as "very disturbing"increasingly complex tax lawsthe possibility that further job and spending cuts could undermine the department's ability to do its job properly.

"We are concerned that HMRC's performance will continue to deteriorate if further reductions in resources are badly managed," the MPs said.

"There was near unanimity among our witnesses that the reductions made so far have had a damaging impact."

Make it easier

Other tax advisers agreed with this diagnosis.

Chas Roy-Chowdhury of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) warned: "If reduced funding leaves HMRC unable to address the basics of maintaining a service for compliant taxpayers, the potential damage to the economy and reputation of the United Kingdom is immense."

Robin Williamson, of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG), said: "If HMRC want to improve taxpayer compliance and reduce error levels, they need to make it easier for people to contact them and get advice that is prompt, accurate and understandable."

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