Reform proposes £30 tax rebate for HMRC phone delays
People on hold to HMRC for more than 30 minutes would get a tax credit under plans announced by Robert Jenrick.
Reform UK has unveiled a proposal to offer a £30 tax rebate to individuals who endure phone delays exceeding 30 minutes when contacting HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). This initiative, announced by Robert Jenrick, aims to address what he described as HMRC's "offensive" treatment of taxpayers.
Jenrick, Reform's economy spokesman, stated that a Reform UK government would also link the salaries of senior HMRC officials to their performance in customer service. To prevent misuse, the tax credit for phone delays would be capped at two instances per tax year.
HMRC has previously asserted improvements in its response times, following a critical report in January 2025 by a committee of MPs. That report accused HMRC of intentionally "degrading its telephone service to drive taxpayers to digital channels." The Public Accounts Committee's findings indicated that in 2024, nearly 44,000 customers were disconnected without warning after waiting over an hour, concluding that "HMRC's treatment of taxpayers has damaged trust in the tax system."
Speaking at a central London media conference, Jenrick highlighted these findings, which were dismissed as "completely baseless" by the then-head of HMRC. The former Tory MP declared, "Frankly, it is offensive to working people and I have had enough." He added, "So, we will give HMRC a big incentive to actually provide proper customer service. I'm announcing today that under a Reform government, if you spend more than half an hour waiting for HMRC to answer your call, you will get a £30 credit off your tax bill. If HMRC delay, they can repay. And to make sure that the staff actually hit their targets, we'll tie the pay of senior HMRC officials to their customer service performance."
In addition to the tax rebate, Jenrick pledged to replace the UK's current privacy regulations with a "light-touch" approach to data protection, aiming to reduce "red tape" for businesses. He argued that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), adopted as domestic law post-Brexit and mirroring EU legislation, has "strangled" tech firms and small businesses. Reform proposes replacing this framework with rules inspired by New Zealand's privacy legislation, which the party claims offers the lightest-touch regime still deemed "adequate" by the EU.
Labour criticized Reform's proposals, accusing the party of seeking to "scrap vital safeguards that protect people's private data" with "unworkable and unserious plans."
HMRC has been approached for comment regarding these proposals.