Are HMRC Delays Getting Worse?

Longer HMRC Delays Impacting Customer Satisfaction

The statistics say it all – HMRC is taking longer to answer the phones and open the mail.

The statistics below come from recently conducted research carried out looking into a number of criteria surrounding services provided by HMRC. 

However, this is only the tip of the “time” iceberg.

Some of the incidents occurring at the moment are cause for alarm. 

A CIS client was asked to wait six months to get their repayment. This meant the client would have to wait until April 2021! This has resulted in delaying the closure of their business and causing a huge inconvenience. 

We all fear that our payments don’t make it to where they’re supposed to; this is exactly what happened to one client who had their Corporation Tax payment transferred to the WRONG ACCOUNT. 

After flagging this egregious error, HMRC confirmed it would take TWO MONTHS to actually answer the query. 

These astonishing levels of ineptitude are not isolated. They are becoming more and more common and as the current situation continues, these errors and delays are only going to be exacerbated.

HMRC Cutting Staff Numbers

HMRC have been reducing staff numbers for around the past four years. In that time, they have let go 2,000 members of staff. 

In the past few months HMRC could be congratulated in the way they have implemented and administered the various grant funding they have been involved in. However, they are now counting the pennies and starting to use software to check in on who fraudulently claimed.

This has resulted in a number of staff now working on this fraudulent case changes. Leaving less staff to do the day to day.

Self-Assessment is Coming – Are you Prepared?

With Self-Assessment due by the end of January, the busiest period of the HMRC calendar is about to be upon us. The stark reality is that all of the delays we’ve been seeing are about to get significantly worse.

This will be compounded by the revenue’s plan to move Making Tax Digital for VAT into all VAT registered businesses. The last time this happened, considerable pressure was put on the system before all of the teething problems were ironed out. 

The introduction of the smaller business community will surely cause more issues this time around.

HMRC Tax Services for Businesses and Sole Traders 

If you are looking to file with HMRC, or have issues understanding what should be completed and when you may get it, we are very happy to chat the issue through with you. Give Parris and McNally Accountants a call. We have the necessary experience working with HMRC and handling all manner of tax-related concerns to help guide your business through this testing time. 


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