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Business Owners Would Get £30 for HMRC Phone Delays, Jenrick Announces
The policy would cap refunds at two claims a year and tie senior HMRC pay to customer-service performance, Reform said.
Robert Jenrick announced that a Reform government would provide a £30 tax credit to individuals waiting more than 30 minutes for HMRC assistance, limited to two occasions annually.
In January 2025, the Public Accounts committee accused HMRC of seeking to "degrade its telephone service to drive taxpayers to digital channels," noting nearly 44,000 customers were disconnected after hour-long waits in 2024.
HMRC reported that customer service had "vastly" improved over two years, with average wait times now 11 minutes and 80% overall customer satisfaction across digital services.
Labour Party officials denounced the plan as "unworkable and unserious," arguing Reform had "once again skated over the detail" of its policies and warning that proposed data safeguards changes risked personal information security.
Beyond the HMRC proposal, Jenrick pledged to scrap UK privacy rules for a "light-touch" approach to slash "red tape" for businesses and introduced a "hard work bonus" scrapping income tax on overtime.