A future Reform UK government would offer taxpayers a £30 reduction on their tax bill if they are kept on hold by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for more than 30 minutes, the party’s economy spokesman Robert Jenrick has said.
Jenrick described HMRC’s current service standards as “offensive to working people” and that long waits on customer helplines undermine public confidence in the tax authority. Under the proposal, the pay of senior HMRC officials would be directly linked to customer service performance, including call‑handling times.
“Frankly, it is offensive to working people and I have had enough,”
Robert Jenrick
The rebate would be limited to two claims per tax year to prevent misuse, Jenrick said, framing the measure as part of a broader effort to make HMRC more accountable to taxpayers.
Labour responded by insisting that significant improvements have already been delivered. Labour’s Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Dan Tomlinson, said: “There’s a much better way, Robert. It’s called just getting on and fixing things.”
At the time of the general election, average waiting times on HMRC phone lines stood at around 24 minutes. In recent months, they have fallen to approximately 10 minutes. Labour attributes this reduction to increased investment in HMRC customer services and internal reforms aimed at expanding digital contact options and accelerating response times.
Tomlinson argued that these changes demonstrate the value of sustained administrative reform rather than headline‑grabbing proposals, saying it is “better to have Labour ministers improving things than Reform pretenders with policy gimmicks.”