£19 billion in unpaid taxes 'unlikely to be recovered'

13 Aug 2024

HMRC has stated that it is 'unlikely to recover' over £19 billion in unpaid taxes, which have accumulated as as a result of uncollected tax debt and a plethora of HMRC customer service failures.

HMRC's latest annual report showed that the total amount of unpaid taxes has risen to £43 billion. According to HMRC, the proportion of these unpaid taxes now considered unlikely to be recovered has increased to 45% from 32% in 2023.

According to the report, HMRC customer service failures have also contributed to the issue. The report showed that every customer service target set by the previous government has been missed.

Data revealed that almost 56,000 taxpayers were cut off after being on hold to HMRC for over an hour, and the average wait time for phone calls to HMRC rose to 23 minutes and 14 seconds – representing a 42% increase when compared to 2023.

A spokesperson for HMRC said: 'We do everything we can to help those who engage with us to get out of debt. With research and development claims, public money is at stake, which is why we have increased compliance activity.'