People on hold to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for more than 30 minutes would get £30 off their tax bill under a Reform UK government, Robert Jenrick has announced.
Reform’s economy spokesman said HMRC’s treatment of taxpayers was “offensive to working people” and his party would tie the pay of senior HMRC officials to customer service targets.
To prevent abuse, the tax credit for phone delays would be limited to two occasions in a given tax year, Jenrick said.
HMRC said its customer service had “vastly” improved over the past two years, with average call waiting times now 11 minutes and more of its services being delivered online or through its app.
In January 2025, the Public Accounts committee accused HMRC of seeking to “degrade its telephone service to drive taxpayers to digital channels” in a highly critical report., external
The MPs’ report said nearly 44,000 customers were cut off without warning after being on hold for more than an hour in 2024 and “HMRC’s treatment of taxpayers has damaged trust in the tax system”.
Jenrick highlighted the findings – which were rejected as “completely baseless” by the then boss of HMRC – at a media conference in central London.
“Frankly, it is offensive to working people and I have had enough,” said the former Tory MP.
“So, we will give HMRC a big incentive to actually provide proper customer service.
“I’m announcing today that under a Reform government, if you spend more than half an hour waiting for HMRC to answer your call, you will get a £30 credit off your tax bill. If HMRC delay, they can repay.
“And to make sure that the staff actually hit their targets, we’ll tie the pay of senior HMRC officials to their customer service performance.”
The HMRC said 80% of customer interactions now took place digitally, reducing the time spent on the phone to advisers, who were there to deal with vulnerable or digitally excluded customers or those with particularly complex problems.
A spokesperson said: “Our customer service performance has improved significantly with average call wait times now around 11 minutes.
“Overall customer satisfaction is at around 80% with more people than ever using our digital services, including millions using the HMRC app.”
Jenrick also pledged to scrap UK privacy rules in favour of a “light-touch” approach to data protection as part of a bid to slash “red tape” for businesses if Reform wins power.
He said the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which mirrors EU legislation and was adopted as domestic law after Brexit, had “strangled” tech firms and small enterprises.
The framework would be replaced by rules modelled on New Zealand’s privacy legislation, which Reform says has the lightest-touch regime still recognised as being “adequate” by the EU.
Labour accused Reform of wanting to “scrap vital safeguards that protect people’s private data” with its “unworkable and unserious plans”.
