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Ministers, top civil servants and members of the royal family are receiving fast-tracked tax advice through a little-known HMRC helpline, it has emerged.
The VIPs are having queries dealt with by the taxman eight times faster than the general public, new figures reveal.
Millions with tax queries for HMRC face an average wait time on the phone of 18 minutes, with more than 2 million calls abandoned or cut off altogether in the last six months of 2024 due to a lack of staff.
But VIPs with tax queries get through to HMRC in less than three minutes on average using a special helpline known as Public Department 1 (PD1).
The helpline, staffed by special call handlers, gives preferential treatment to high earners and senior public officials, whose tax affairs are stored separately to the general public for security reasons.
Wait times fell across the board for VIPs and the public, HMRC figures show, with the average wait in the last half of 2024 at two minutes and 21 seconds.
By contrast, the general public had to wait an average of 18 minutes and 49 seconds, the data revealed.
The data, first reported by The Times, showed that in June 2024, the general public waited an average of more than 25 minutes, while those using PD1 waited 1 minute and 44 seconds on average.
The Liberal Democrats branded the figures “shocking”, highlighting the “disparity in service” facing members of the general public.
Deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Small businesses and people just wanting to do the right thing and pay their taxes should not be subjected to anxiety-inducing waits.
“HMRC was run into the ground under the Conservatives and the Labour government cannot be allowed to repeat the same mistakes. Without investment into HMRC, tax dodgers will continue to get off scot free whilst honest people are pushed to the back of the queue.”
She called for a funding boost for HMRC so it can “crack down on tax dodgers” and offer the public better customer service.
HMRC said those using PD1 needed “a greater level of protection due to their identity or job, with only a small number of staff able to access their records”.
The tax authority has been encouraging more taxpayers to seek advice through its online webchat, but the proportion of those using the service has been falling. VIPs are unable to use the webchat for security reasons, contributing to the need for PD1.
A spokesperson said: “These taxpayers have reduced options to use HMRC’s digital services and main helplines to handle their affairs because of restricted access to their records. This leads to an increased need to contact HMRC to resolve their tax enquiries and for a separate helpline serviced by a very small team in PD1.”
Separate figures revealed that complaints about HMRC’s phone services hit a record high last year, rising more than six-fold since 2019.
When data was first collected on complaints in 2018/19, there were 1,244 complaints from taxpayers, while in 2024 that figure rose to 8,037.
