People who spend more than 30 minutes on hold to HMRC would receive a £30 credit off their tax bill under proposals set out by Reform UK, the party’s treasury spokesman announced on Wednesday.
How the credit would work
The plan, unveiled in London by the party’s treasury spokesman, is pitched as an incentive to improve customer service at the tax authority, especially for small businesses. The credit would be limited to two occasions per tax year to prevent abuse, Reform said. In addition, the party proposes to link the pay of senior HMRC officials to customer service performance to ensure targets are met.
“So, we will give HMRC a big incentive to actually provide proper customer service. I’m announcing today that under a Reform government, if you spend more than half an hour waiting for HMRC to answer your call, you will get a £30 credit off your tax bill. If HMRC delay, well, they can repay.”
The spokesman framed the move as a response to accusations that HMRC had deliberately degraded services to push users online. He called the situation “a disgrace” and said it was “offensive to working people”.
Broader policy changes on data and taxes
Alongside the waiting‑time credit, Reform said it would replace the UK’s retained version of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with a “light‑touch” regime modelled on New Zealand’s privacy law. The party asserted that GDPR had “strangled” tech firms and small enterprises and said the change was intended to slash “red tape”.
Mr Jenrick also announced a series of other tax and relief commitments aimed at businesses and agricultural interests:
- Widen a tax‑relief scheme for investors in small UK businesses so relatives can claim advantages more easily;
- Reverse the recent rise in employer national insurance contributions;
- Reverse changes to inheritance tax on farms;
- Introduce a “hard work bonus” that would remove income tax on overtime.
Reform characterised these measures as part of a drive to reduce regulatory burdens and incentivise work and investment. The party’s proposals mix service‑delivery incentives for a major public body with sweeping regulatory and fiscal changes.
What this means for businesses, wages and compliance
The waiting‑time credit is symbolic and modest in monetary terms — £30 per qualifying delay, limited twice a year — but it signals a political appetite to tie public‑sector management to measurable customer outcomes. For small firms that rely on timely HMRC support for payroll, VAT and other matters, faster service could reduce administrative costs and uncertainty. However, the proposed credit does not directly compensate for lost staff time or the opportunity costs of delays.
The plan to tie senior HMRC pay to customer service performance would represent a change in managerial incentives at a large revenue body. Whether such a mechanism could be designed without unintended consequences — for example, distorting priorities between compliance, fraud prevention and front‑line support — is unclear from the announcement.
Replacing GDPR with a lighter regime modelled on New Zealand would alter compliance obligations for firms handling personal data. Proponents argue it could cut costs for small tech companies and simplify cross‑border data flows; critics warn it risks weakening safeguards and could complicate data transfers to jurisdictions that demand GDPR‑equivalent protections.
Political and practical hurdles
These proposals combine behavioural incentives, managerial reform and regulatory rollback. Implementing them would require detailed legislation and administrative design, especially for linking pay to performance and creating a new privacy framework. A Labour spokesperson criticised Reform for skirting policy detail — a reminder that converting headline commitments into workable rules is often the most difficult step.
| Policy | Key detail announced |
|---|---|
| HMRC waiting‑time credit | £30 after >30 minutes on hold; capped at two occasions per tax year |
| Senior HMRC pay | To be tied to customer service performance |
| Data protection | Replace GDPR with New Zealand‑style, “light‑touch” rules |
| Tax/relief changes | Wider investor reliefs, reverse employer NI rise, reverse farm IHT changes, tax break on overtime |
From the perspective of households and businesses, the immediate effect of the waiting‑time credit would be marginal. The broader regulatory and tax pledges, however, could have more substantial implications for labour costs, data compliance expenses and investment incentives — but only if, and when, detailed policies are published and enacted.
