A leading professional body has cast doubt over whether HMRC have the resources or capability to improve service standards, after a committee of MPs found ‘considerable dissatisfaction’ with HMRC’s service to taxpayers and benefit claimants.
The House of Commons Treasury Committee warned that respect for the tax system may be undermined if communicating with HMRC becomes too difficult.
Dissatisfaction among the public and tax professionals has been building for some years, the committee said, particularly in relation to access to advice over the telephone, responses to post, and offline alternatives to internet-based filing and guidance.
‘We do not accept the department’s explanation that these problems are primarily the result of reconciling of multiple PAYE tax years at once,’ the committee said in the report, Administration and effectiveness of HM Revenue and Customs, published today.
‘There is a serious risk that if communicating with HMRC becomes too time-consuming, difficult and expensive, respect for the tax system, and with it voluntary compliance, may be undermined.’
HMRC Chairman Mike Clasper said the Treasury Committee report was ‘balanced’.
‘We’re not happy with our performance in 2010,’ he told BBC News. There had been some improvement in 2011, he said, but ‘we have to go further and try to get to industry level standards’ in terms of the speed of response to post and telephone calls.
Clasper was quoted as telling BBC Radio 5 live: ‘It simply wasn't good enough on post and telephone and I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to the people who had to take a long time to get through, or we didn't get back to them quick enough with the post.’
‘A major burden’
Businesses and tax advisers are struggling to get HMRC to do ‘simple actions’ effectively and efficiently, said Frank Haskew, Head of the ICAEW Tax Faculty.
HMRC service standards are ‘a major burden to businesses of all sizes and in particular SMEs’, he said.
‘Given the 25% cut in HMRC budget in the 2010 spending review and the necessity to reduce the current 70,000 staff by a further 10,000 – this coming on top of the staff being reduced by 30,000 in the five years to 2010 – we are not convinced that HMRC have the resources or the capability to deliver on improving service standards.’
Anthony Thomas, President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said HMRC ‘must act urgently on the [committee’s] recommendations or risk undermining confidence in the tax system still further’.
The Treasury Committee recognised that HMRC operate under significant pressures but said it had received ‘disturbing evidence’ of job cuts being made before the efficiencies that were intended to enable those cuts had been delivered, and of ‘a culture of command and control that disengages staff’.
Minimum service standards
The committee recommended that HMRC draw up minimum service standards for dealing with post in a timely and accurate fashion, in consultation with the professional bodies and other stakeholders.
‘Such standards should recognise the distinction between simple and complex queries, and look at the progress of correspondence end-to-end rather than in relation to individual items of post,’ it said.
Haskew said HMRC’s immediate priorities should be ‘to improve processing accuracy and make it easier for taxpayers and agents to communicate quickly and efficiently with them’.
Minimum service standards are ‘something we have advocated for many years’, he said.
‘HMRC also needs to develop an email service and expand its range of e-services, including allowing trusted agents to self serve.’
Thomas said the recommendation was a recognition that ‘when it comes to making the tax system work better, tax advisers are part of the solution rather than part of the problem’.
The committee has recognised the concern of taxpayers and agents that ‘HMRC cost savings are in reality being displaced on to them’, Thomas added.
‘The committee has asked us and the other bodies who raised this to provide evidence of the extent of the problem. We are already planning how best to do this.’
‘Professionalism’
‘We know we have a lot more to do to improve our services to customers. But HMRC is in a much stronger position now than in 2010 and plans to go further,’ an HMRC spokesman said.
‘We have recruited 1,000 additional contact centre advisers to manage exceptionally busy periods this year. We have improved the way we deal with post, for example rapidly reducing turnaround times on PAYE and self assessment post.
‘Moving services online has been a success, making it easier and quicker for most customers to access HMRC services. We recognise that not everybody can access these online services but we are committed to delivering the same quality of service to all customers.
‘We welcome the committee’s report, and particularly its recognition of the dedication and professionalism of our staff.’
Recommendations
‘The committee made recommendations in the following areas:
Source: House of Commons Treasury Committee, 30 July 2011
A leading professional body has cast doubt over whether HMRC have the resources or capability to improve service standards, after a committee of MPs found ‘considerable dissatisfaction’ with HMRC’s service to taxpayers and benefit claimants.
The House of Commons Treasury Committee warned that respect for the tax system may be undermined if communicating with HMRC becomes too difficult.
Dissatisfaction among the public and tax professionals has been building for some years, the committee said, particularly in relation to access to advice over the telephone, responses to post, and offline alternatives to internet-based filing and guidance.
‘We do not accept the department’s explanation that these problems are primarily the result of reconciling of multiple PAYE tax years at once,’ the committee said in the report, Administration and effectiveness of HM Revenue and Customs, published today.
‘There is a serious risk that if communicating with HMRC becomes too time-consuming, difficult and expensive, respect for the tax system, and with it voluntary compliance, may be undermined.’
HMRC Chairman Mike Clasper said the Treasury Committee report was ‘balanced’.
‘We’re not happy with our performance in 2010,’ he told BBC News. There had been some improvement in 2011, he said, but ‘we have to go further and try to get to industry level standards’ in terms of the speed of response to post and telephone calls.
Clasper was quoted as telling BBC Radio 5 live: ‘It simply wasn't good enough on post and telephone and I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise to the people who had to take a long time to get through, or we didn't get back to them quick enough with the post.’
‘A major burden’
Businesses and tax advisers are struggling to get HMRC to do ‘simple actions’ effectively and efficiently, said Frank Haskew, Head of the ICAEW Tax Faculty.
HMRC service standards are ‘a major burden to businesses of all sizes and in particular SMEs’, he said.
‘Given the 25% cut in HMRC budget in the 2010 spending review and the necessity to reduce the current 70,000 staff by a further 10,000 – this coming on top of the staff being reduced by 30,000 in the five years to 2010 – we are not convinced that HMRC have the resources or the capability to deliver on improving service standards.’
Anthony Thomas, President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said HMRC ‘must act urgently on the [committee’s] recommendations or risk undermining confidence in the tax system still further’.
The Treasury Committee recognised that HMRC operate under significant pressures but said it had received ‘disturbing evidence’ of job cuts being made before the efficiencies that were intended to enable those cuts had been delivered, and of ‘a culture of command and control that disengages staff’.
Minimum service standards
The committee recommended that HMRC draw up minimum service standards for dealing with post in a timely and accurate fashion, in consultation with the professional bodies and other stakeholders.
‘Such standards should recognise the distinction between simple and complex queries, and look at the progress of correspondence end-to-end rather than in relation to individual items of post,’ it said.
Haskew said HMRC’s immediate priorities should be ‘to improve processing accuracy and make it easier for taxpayers and agents to communicate quickly and efficiently with them’.
Minimum service standards are ‘something we have advocated for many years’, he said.
‘HMRC also needs to develop an email service and expand its range of e-services, including allowing trusted agents to self serve.’
Thomas said the recommendation was a recognition that ‘when it comes to making the tax system work better, tax advisers are part of the solution rather than part of the problem’.
The committee has recognised the concern of taxpayers and agents that ‘HMRC cost savings are in reality being displaced on to them’, Thomas added.
‘The committee has asked us and the other bodies who raised this to provide evidence of the extent of the problem. We are already planning how best to do this.’
‘Professionalism’
‘We know we have a lot more to do to improve our services to customers. But HMRC is in a much stronger position now than in 2010 and plans to go further,’ an HMRC spokesman said.
‘We have recruited 1,000 additional contact centre advisers to manage exceptionally busy periods this year. We have improved the way we deal with post, for example rapidly reducing turnaround times on PAYE and self assessment post.
‘Moving services online has been a success, making it easier and quicker for most customers to access HMRC services. We recognise that not everybody can access these online services but we are committed to delivering the same quality of service to all customers.
‘We welcome the committee’s report, and particularly its recognition of the dedication and professionalism of our staff.’
Recommendations
‘The committee made recommendations in the following areas:
Source: House of Commons Treasury Committee, 30 July 2011
