Call response times improve as year progresses

The average speed with which HMRC answered taxpayers’ calls has improved over the first nine months of 2019-20. The year began badly with the average response time in April being 9.17 minutes rising to 10.48 minutes in May. By December it had fallen to 4.13 minutes.

HMRC’s transparency figures show that over the nine months 3.77 million callers hung up and did not call back.

The department’s handling of iForms submitted by taxpayers has also improved over the nine months. In the first quarter it responded to 85.3% of forms within seven days but this rose to 92% by the end of the December.

Kevin Igoe managing director at PfP said: ‘Waiting on hold can be incredibly frustrating and adds to the already complicated process of tax returns. Taxpayers should try and be patient when calling HMRC to ensure they get all the information required. Mistakes can easily...