A warning has been issued around even longer waiting times on HMRC helplines due to a staff strike.
Civil servants are set to go on strike for eight weeks in support of three workers allegedly sacked for “trade union activities”.
Around 200 customer service staff at the department’s office in Benton Park, Newcastle, are taking part in a protest over allegations of “injustice” towards their colleagues.
It is claimed that three members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents civil servants, were fired after organising a previous strike.
HMRC has warned customers could experience longer wait times on its phone lines and web chat as a result of the industrial action.
One of the dismissed employees, Rachel Farmer, said: “I was doing my trade union duties, legitimate trade union duties, but the employer has thought otherwise.”
She added: “I’ve really suffered massively with my mental health. My mental health is already at an all time low, and then to do this, it’s made my world crash – all we want is our jobs back.”
Fran Heathcote, the PCS general secretary, said: “An injury to one is an injury to all, and we’re not going to sit back and allow this injustice to go unchallenged.“We believe our reps were victimised for their trade union activities after they organised a previous strike.
“They never wanted to be in this situation – they just want to be back at work, doing their jobs.
“We demand HMRC gives them their jobs back and ends the victimisation of reps in the workplace.”
An HMRC spokesman said: “We have robust plans in place to ensure we continue delivering critical services for our customers during any industrial action.”
The staff going on strike work on HMRC’s helpline for employers, as well as its Construction Industry Scheme. Both web pages now feature a warning about industrial action between Dec 23 2024 and Feb 14 2025.
It states: “You may wait longer than usual to speak to an adviser using web chat. If you can, you should use our online services rather than waiting to speak to us.”
It is the latest wave of industrial action to hit the department after more than 300 Fujitsu Services UK staff walked out earlier this year.
More than 400 HMRC customer service advisers also went on strike in the spring of last year.
In recent months, PCS members at both the Office for National Statistics and Land Registry have threatened to strike over a crackdown on working from home.
HMRC is pursuing a “digital-first” approach to customer service despite many taxpayers continuing to rely primarily on its helplines for support with their tax affairs.
In March it was forced to make a U-turn after it tried to cut off its main helpline for six months of every year going forward.
Its customer service record came under further scrutiny earlier this year when it emerged the department had hung up on 55,922 taxpayers after leaving them waiting on the phone for more than 70 minutes.
Overall, the taxman answered only 66 percent of customers’ calls in 2023-24 against a target of 85 per cent, and down from 71 per cent in 2022-23. This was despite a 4 per cent drop in the volume of calls year on year, HMRC’s annual report has revealed.
The department missed all five of its customer service targets last year, citing financial pressures and the huge rise in the number of taxpayers.
