CIOT and ICAEW report – Tackling HMRC’s customer service challenge

The CIOT and ICAEW have today (11 December 2024) launched their report addressing HMRC’s customer service challenges, setting out recommendations for improvements.

The six-week study, Tackling HMRC’s customer service challenge, tracked attempts to contact HMRC across phonelines and webchats. Findings include:

• Only 33% of contact attempts to HMRC resulted in the query being fully resolved
• The average wait time across phone and webchat was 19 minutes
• 88% of phone calls were connected to an adviser
• Half (49%) of webchat attempts were connected to an adviser

The bodies made 10 recommendations in the report, focused on HMRC’s services, staff and digitalisation. The recommendations include enhancing tracking and monitoring systems, strengthening staff training and accountability, and developing and optimising digital services.

Read the full report and our media release.