What happens when HMRC’s delays meet a six-month inheritance tax deadline?

Complaints involving both HMRC delays and mistakes rose by 66 per cent to 12,670 during the 2024/25 tax year. If you’ve struggled to get a straight answer from the tax office lately, at least you know it isn’t personal.

The figure, obtained by accountancy group UHY Hacker Young, was up from an already substantial 7,620 complaints the previous year. Neela Chauhan, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said the rise pointed to “a sustained decline in HMRC’s customer service”.

The waiting times offer little reassurance. UHY calculated that taxpayers collectively spent 558 years calling HMRC during the year. An impressive total, although perhaps not one the department will be rushing to put on its headed paper.

This goes beyond the irritation of listening to hold music for half a lifetime. Delays can leave taxpayers at risk of missing filing deadlines, receiving penalties or waiting months for money they’re owed. For a self-employed person who has overpaid tax after an unexpected fall in income, a delayed refund can quickly become a cashflow problem.

HMRC has found the money to recruit thousands of people to pursue unpaid tax. Finding somebody to answer the phone appears to be a more ambitious project.

Another deadline for executors

The worsening service should also concern advisers who act as executors. From April 2027, unspent pension funds are due to be included in inheritance tax calculations. With inheritance tax generally payable within six months, executors will need pension values, decisions and responses from HMRC within a timetable that doesn’t leave much room for departmental dawdling.

More complex estates could become particularly difficult. Executors may be trying to confirm pension values, calculate liabilities and arrange payment while waiting for HMRC to deal with the case. The deadline won’t necessarily become more understanding because nobody answered the telephone.

The government has provided HMRC with funding to recruit 5,500 new tax investigation staff and another 2,400 officers to pursue tax debt. It hasn’t publicised plans for a comparable expansion of the customer service workforce.

“HMRC is clearly prioritising enforcement over support. While tackling the tax gap is important, it cannot come at the expense of basic customer service. Taxpayers are finding it harder than ever to get help, even as the tax system becomes more complex,” Chauhan said.

Few people will object to HMRC collecting tax that is properly due. They may reasonably object when the same department makes it unnecessarily difficult to comply, correct an error or recover their own money.

Advisers can’t make HMRC answer the phone, but they can prepare for the possibility that it won’t. That means beginning time-sensitive estate work as early as possible, keeping a clear record of every submission and conversation, and warning clients that repayments or decisions may take longer than expected.

When the resulting administration starts pushing client work aside, The Timebank can help with the paraplanning. Better still, when you call us, somebody will actually answer.