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Reform proposes £30 HMRC tax credit for phone delays

The plan would limit credits to two occasions per tax year and link senior HMRC pay to customer service targets.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Trade & Tariffs

Reform UK has outlined a proposal that would provide taxpayers with a £30 credit off their tax bill if they are kept on hold by HM Revenue and Customs for more than half an hour, according to BBC Business.

Robert Jenrick, Reform’s economy spokesman, said the credit would be capped at two instances per tax year to prevent abuse, and he added that a Reform government would tie senior HMRC officials’ pay to customer service targets.

The proposal comes after HMRC faced criticism over telephone service performance, including a January 2025 report by a committee of MPs that said nearly 44,000 customers were cut off after being on hold for more than an hour in 2024.

In the same announcement, Jenrick also pledged to scrap UK privacy rules in favor of a light-touch data protection approach, replacing the domestic framework derived from the GDPR with rules modeled on New Zealand’s privacy legislation, while Labour accused Reform of weakening protections for people’s personal data.

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