UK Tax Agency Lets Up to 4 Million Calls Go Unanswered Each Year

Up to four million phone calls from customers remain unanswered by the UK tax authority every year, according to a top official.

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is funded to answer only 85% of the phone calls every year by the Treasury, leaving three to four million calls “potentially” going unanswered, Jonathan Athow, director general of customer strategy and tax design at HMRC, told the UK Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee on Tuesday.

HMRC handled 83.7% of callers who wanted to speak to an adviser in April-June 2025, a sharp rise from 57.5% in the same period last ...