Taxpayers Face Turmoil Over HMRC’s Subpar Digital Services

HMRC’s Digital Dilemma: Taxpayers in a Puzzling Predicament

The crackling truth—HMRC’s digital front‑end is struggling to keep up with the tangled web of modern tax chores. Leading audit and advisory powerhouse Blick Rothenberg has voiced loud concerns that the system just isn’t cutting it.

What the experts are saying

Robert Salter, Director at Blick Rothenberg blasted the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last year, reminding them that HMRC’s service levels must rise until the digital tools can actually do the job.
In December, ICAEW/CIOT released a joint report showing that HMRC’s webchat hardly holds up. Only 49 % of conversations connect at all, and when they do, just 21 % find a resolution.
Some online forms have become a nightmare—tiring the auditors, taxpayers, and the tax authority itself. The R&D disclosure form finally got a makeover, but otherwise, the bureaucracy is still messy.
A recent mishap involved a woman whose state pension was incorrectly flagged in an automated ‘simplified assessment’. The miscalculation of what HMRC believes it will collect from government welfare funds shows how poorly the digital system can reflect real‑world numbers.

Why the tech fails when people need people

With tax codes getting increasingly labyrinthine, a lot of issues need human touch. Yet, HMRC has shut down phone lines to move staff to tackle digital backlogs, leaving taxpayers stranded with unreliable webchat options.

Each year, over a third of calls to HMRC are tracing progress or correcting mistakes—costing the tax office an estimated £36 million that might be saved by speeding up responses.

Looting the future: funding the fix

Robert argues that boosting government budgets could help level up HMRC’s digital play, but traditional communication channels must stay open and better for those tangled, complex cases.

Bottom line

HMRC’s digital misfires and the disappearance of phone support are nearly throwing taxpayers for a loop. A fresh investment in tech, paired with reliable telephone help, could finally bring tax-filing into the 21st century—without the wry frustration of navigating a broken system.