Complaints made by taxpayers about HM Revenue & Customs have climbed to their highest level in five years, with the proportion of cases resulting in compensation also reaching a recent peak.
New figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Contentious Tax Group show that HMRC received 93,589 complaints in the 2024/25 tax year, up from 78,542 in 2020/21, a rise of 19.2 per cent over five years.
The data suggests mounting frustration among taxpayers and advisers at a time when the tax authority has faced sustained criticism over service standards, processing delays and limited access to support.
The increase in complaints follows repeated warnings from watchdogs about declining performance levels at HMRC. In January 2025, the Public Accounts Committee said that telephone response times, often viewed as a barometer of service quality, had continued to deteriorate from an all-time low recorded the previous year.
Professional advisers say operational failings, including incorrect tax coding notices, misapplied adjustments and processing backlogs, are fuelling a cycle of error and complaint.
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