HMRC fails to pick up 83 million taxpayers’ calls

Vikki Slade, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, has called for urgent action to tackle HMRC’s customer service crisis, including a new “Retiree Red Phone” hotline to support pensioners, after shocking new figures revealed that more than 80 million calls to HMRC have gone unanswered in the past decade.

Research by the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, found that one in five calls to HMRC went unanswered, leaving millions of taxpayers without support. In 2024/25 alone, over 6 million calls went unanswered, an average of 17,000 people every day unable to get through to the tax service. Vikki highlighted the scale of HMRC’s delays in Parliament on 4th November, when she raised the case of a constituent from Wimborne who waited seven months to receive a £300 self-
assessment refund. The constituent first applied in April, but after months of chasing, and even a formal complaint, the refund was not received until November.

Vikki said this example “shows just how slow and inaccessible HMRC has become,” warning that the Department’s inefficiency is leaving ordinary taxpayers stranded. The latest data shows that, in 2024/25, the average HMRC call waiting time was 18 minutes and 38 seconds, the second-longest in the past decade. In some years, pickup rates fell as low as 72%, meaning almost a third of callers never got through.
 

“It’s completely unacceptable that people across Mid Dorset and North Poole can’t get through to HMRC when they need help the most,” said Vikki. “Whether it’s pensioners trying to make sense of their tax or families chasing small refunds, too many are being left waiting for months or simply cut off.
“After years of Conservative neglect, HMRC has been driven into the ground. The Government must act now and launch a ‘Retiree Red Phone’ hotline so pensioners, and indeed anyone struggling to get support, can finally reach someone who can help. People deserve better than being left in the dark by a system that no longer works.”

With the state pension now just £22 below the income tax threshold, thousands more retirees could soon be dragged into paying tax for the first time, a situation that makes reliable, accessible HMRC support more important than ever.