Analysis shows that HMRC last year hung up on 55,922 taxpayers after leaving them waiting on the phone for more than an hour. The tax authority will automatically hang up on callers once the wait time has exceeded 70 minutes. In 2023/24, the number of taxpayers cut off by HMRC for this reason surged by about 700% from just 6,875 in the previous year as customer service levels continued to deteriorate. Overall, HMRC answered just 66% of customers' calls last year against a target of 85% and down from 71% in 2022/23. This was despite a 4% drop in the volume of calls, year-on-year. HMRC missed all five of its customer service targets last year, citing financial pressures and a rise in the number of taxpayers. The latest performance figures suggest the issues have continued into 2024/25. In March 2024, almost 900,000 taxpayers were forced to abandon their calls to the tax authority or were cut off after automated messages. Meanwhile, average call waiting times hit 28 minutes, compared with 23 minutes in 2023/24. Richard Wild of the Chartered Institute of Taxation said: "We continue to be concerned by the damaging impacts caused by poor HMRC customer service."
