Only 5% of small businesses said that their dealings with HMRC had improved in the last 12 months, compared to 61% who felt it had ‘stayed the same’, reveals the findings of the annual Administrative Burdens Advisory Board (ABAB) survey into the quality of HMRC services. However, the percentage of respondents who were dissatisfied with HMRC had improved from last year’s 46% figure.

Telephone services come in for the most criticism, with 40% of respondents stating that HMRC phone support was poor, while 28% said the service was average. Perhaps more surprising was that 30% said telephone support was ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.

Response times on phone lines were heavily criticised with 42.9% of respondents stating that response times on HMRC helplines were poor, and 20.5% described them as bad.