HMRC customer response times worsen in November

Taxpayers calling HMRC waited an average of just over 13 minutes to reach an adviser in November 2021 with 50.8% holding for more than ten minutes according to the department’s latest performance figures. This is about three minutes longer than in the previous month but six minutes shorter than April 2021’s waiting time of 19 minutes and 25 seconds.

The figures reveal that HMRC received 2.7 million calls during the month compared with 2.4 million in October. More than two million asked to speak to an adviser of which HMRC answered 79.2% - this compares with 83.5% in October.

On other correspondence HMRC received more 1.3 million i-forms and other items of post in November. It states that the proportion of this post cleared within 15 days was 41%. This percentage is considerably lower than October (47.9%).

An HMRC spokesperson said: ‘We are currently...