Taxpayers spent 719 years in limbo dealing with HMRC last year as the average waiting time to connect with an adviser continues to rise.
The average call length increased by 19 percent, from 22 minutes and 41 seconds to 27 minutes and two seconds, according to data from accounting firm UHY Hacker Young for the year ending June 30.
The situation is getting worse – this number has increased by 5% in the last three months. compared to the previous quarter.
The UHY Hacker Young study also found that only 42 percent of calls received were handled by an advisor.
According to an accounting firm, taxpayers are waiting even longer to speak to an HMRC advisor
The remaining calls were diverted, a busy message was played, or the customer abandoned the call while on hold.
Last year, the tax office came under increased scrutiny because the waiting time to talk to an advisor increased dramatically.
This situation only worsened as more and more people were included in the tax system.
More people are now working multiple jobs, and frozen income thresholds mean that some workers who didn't previously earn enough now have to pay tax, and more people are being dragged into higher tax brackets.
The rise in interest rates means that more people with modest savings may now also be taxed on their income.
This is also shown by the latest tax office figures, more pensioners than ever now pay income tax on their state pension.
The number of people over pension age paying income tax increased from 7.85 million in 2023/24 to 8.51 million in 2024/25, an increase of 660,000.
At the same time, HMRC has shifted its focus from telephone services to digital support.
However, it closed its VAT registration helpline last summer and attempted to close its self-assessment helpline in the summer.
This is what Money has heard from many readers who have been affected by the sudden closure of the self-esteem helpline.
We revealed one woman was fined hundreds of pounds for late tax returns, despite not being self-employed for four years.
After six months of trying to solve the problem, she tried calling the self-esteem helpline but was told it was closed for the summer.
The government has said it will tackle tax avoidance to help close the tax loophole
However, UHY Hacker Young says long wait times also contribute to this, making it more difficult for individuals and businesses to resolve issues.
Neela Chauhan, partner at UHY Hacker Young, says: “Too often when the government talks about increasing HMRC funding, it ends up being tax investigations.
“It is vital that HMRC receives additional funding to improve the very poor customer service.
“Delays in processing customer inquiries are also making it more difficult for HMRC to resolve tax issues.
“This in turn reduces the amount of tax collected by HMRC. Ending the customer service crisis is also in HMRC's best interests.”
An HMRC spokesman said: “These figures date back several months, since the new government made improving customer service a key priority for HMRC.
“While the UK already has one of the lowest recorded tax gaps in the world, ministers are committed to reducing it further and the Chancellor has committed significant additional funding to achieve this.”
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