[Withdrawn] HM Revenue and Customs single departmental plan - June 2018
Updated 1 October 2019
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This publication was withdrawn on 13 June 2019. It has been replaced by a new version.
Our single departmental plan sets out our objectives and how we will achieve them.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive
Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive Jim Harra
We are the UK’s tax, payments and customs authority, and we have a vital purpose: we collect the money that pays for the UK’s public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support.
Our vision is to be a world-class organisation – and our work is underpinned by our values:
- we are professional
- we act with integrity
- we show respect
- we are innovative
Our objectives
We will:
- maximise revenues due and bear down on avoidance and evasion
- transform tax and payments for our customers
- design and deliver a professional, efficient and engaged organisation
1. Maximise revenues due and bear down on avoidance and evasion
Lead minister
The Rt Hon Mel Stride MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Lead officials
Jon Thompson, First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive
Jim Harra, Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive
1.1 Maximise revenues due
| How we will achieve this |
|---|
| Build on our success in collecting £605.8 billion in total revenues over 2017 to 2018 and the overall downward trend in the tax gap over the past decade |
| Deliver compliance revenues of £30 billion in 2018 to 2019 through our compliance activity |
| Continue to identify and prevent losses in the tax credits system so that error and fraud is no more than 5% as we support the transition to Universal Credit |
| Help customers to claim their full tax credit entitlement so that underpayments through error are no more than 0.7% |
| Minimise the debt balance, reducing the amounts that become debt and making it as easy as possible for customers to pay what they owe |
1.2 Bear down on tax avoidance and evasion
| How we will achieve this |
|---|
| Invest £800 million in additional work to tackle evasion and non-compliance in the tax system, with a further £155 million of investment announced at Autumn Budget 2017 for future years up to 2019 to 2020 |
| Raise an additional £5 billion a year on 2015 to 2016 by 2019 to 2020 by tackling tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning, evasion and non-compliance, and by addressing imbalances in the tax system |
| Strengthen our work around identifying those who seek to operate in the hidden economy |
| Increase our ability to prevent alcohol and tobacco smuggling |
| Continue to tackle tax avoidance, close schemes and collect yield of more than £450 million in 2018 to 2019 through the Accelerated Payments regime and collect yield of £1 billion in tax settlements |
| Increase the number of criminal investigations that we undertake into serious and complex tax crime, focusing particularly on wealthy individuals and corporates, with the aim of increasing prosecutions in this area to 100 a year by the end of the Parliament |
| Resolve disputes by agreement or through litigation, whichever best secures the tax that is legally due |
| Ensure global companies pay their fair share in tax by supporting the government’s leading role in the reform of international tax rules |
| Review the country-by-country tax reporting rules and consider the case for making this information publicly available on a multilateral basis |
Our performance
Total tax revenues £605.8 billion April 2017 to March 2018
Source: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2017 to 2018; release schedule: annually
Compliance yield raised
| Quarter | Yield (£ million) |
|---|---|
| 2017-18 Q4 | 11,589 |
| 2017-18 Q3 | 7,268 |
| 2017-18 Q2 | 6,484 |
| 2017-18 Q1 | 4,925 |
Our target is £30 billion in 2018 to 2019.
Source: HMRC quarterly performance data; release schedule: quarterly
Tackling tax credits error and fraud 4.9% April 2016 to March 2017
Source: HMRC official statistics; release schedule: annually
Our target is to ensure error and fraud is no more than 5% in 2018 to 2019
Tax credits underpayments 0.8% April 2016 to March 2017
Source: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts; release schedule: annually
Our target is to ensure underpayments through error are no more than 0.7% in 2018 to 2019
2.Transform tax and payments for our customers
Lead minister
The Rt Hon Mel Stride MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Lead officials
Jon Thompson, First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive
Jim Harra, Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive
2.1 Ensure a smooth and orderly EU exit
| How we will achieve this |
|---|
| Support the government to negotiate a successful exit and future partnership |
| Build and maintain specialist capability to deliver EU exit requirements |
| Continue to work on the Customs Declaration Service. Our target delivery date is early 2019, and the system is able to deal with the potential increase in demand following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU |
| Ensure we have the IT, operational and policy requirements in place to support the UK’s exit from the EU |
| Support UK businesses so that they have sufficient time to prepare for Exiting the EU effectively |
2.2 Support welfare and pension reform
| How we will achieve this |
|---|
| Continue to work with HM Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the transition to Universal Credit, making this as smooth as possible for staff and claimants, in line with the migration plan led by DWP |
| Support the government’s pensions and savings reforms by continuing to design and deliver the new Lifetime ISA and support the delivery of the new ‘Help to Save’ initiative |
| Continue to monitor Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) risks and work with HM Treasury officials to develop operational and policy ideas to minimise fraud, error and debt |
2.3 Transform for our customers
| How we will achieve this |
|---|
| Invest £1.3 billion to transform HMRC into one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world, finishing the delivery of our multi-channel digital services so we become a ‘digital-by-default’ organisation |
| Accelerate channel shift and continue to encourage customers to use digital services while optimising the effectiveness of customers using all HMRC services |
| Continue to add functionality to Digital Tax Accounts across this Parliament and to proactively encourage customers to utilise these |
| Pre-populate customer forms, Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) and online accounts with real-time information, saving customers time and reducing the need for them to contact us |
| Produce advice for Ministers on the outcome of consultations launched at Spring Statement (with HM Treasury) |
Our performance
Customer satisfaction with digital services
| Quarter | Satisfaction (%) |
|---|---|
| 2017-18 Q4 | 79.8% |
| 2017-18 Q3 | 79.8% |
| 2017-18 Q2 | 80.5% |
| 2017-18 Q1 | 79.5% |
Our target for 2018 to 2019 is that 80% of customers are either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with our digital services across the year
Source: HMRC monthly performance reports, HMRC quarterly performance update; release schedule: monthly and quarterly
Average speed of answering a customer’s call
| Quarter | Average speed of answer (mm:ss) |
|---|---|
| 2017-18 Q4 | 04:28 |
| 2017-18 Q3 | 04:32 |
| 2017-18 Q2 | 04:37 |
| 2017-18 Q1 | 04:13 |
Our target for 2018 to 2019 is to answer customer calls within an average speed of answer of 5 minutes across the year
Source: HMRC monthly performance reports, HMRC quarterly performance update; release schedule: monthly and quarterly
Customers waiting more than 10 minutes to speak to an advisor
| Quarter | Customers waiting more than 10 minutes (%) |
|---|---|
| 2017-18 Q4 | 14.6% |
| 2017-18 Q3 | 14.9% |
| 2017-18 Q2 | 15.6% |
| 2017-18 Q1 | 14.2% |
Our target for 2018 to 2019 is to ensure no more than 15% of calls are waiting more than 10 minutes to speak to an advisor across the year
Source: HMRC monthly performance reports, HMRC quarterly performance update; release schedule: monthly and quarterly
Customer i-forms cleared within 7 working days of receipt
| Quarter | Turnaround in 7 days (%) |
|---|---|
| 2017-18 Q4 | 94.6% |
| 2017-18 Q3 | 93.7% |
| 2017-18 Q2 | 92.3% |
| 2017-18 Q1 | 91.6% |
Our target for 2018 to 2019 is to turnaround 95% of i-forms within 7 days across the year
Source: HMRC monthly performance reports / HMRC quarterly performance update; release schedule: monthly and quarterly
Customer post cleared within 15 working days of receipt
| Quarter | Turnaround in 15 days (%) |
|---|---|
| 2017-18 Q4 | 80.7% |
| 2017-18 Q3 | 78.5% |
| 2017-18 Q2 | 74.4% |
| 2017-18 Q1 | 63.5% |
Our target for 2018 to 2019 is to turnaround 80% of post within 15 days across the year
Source: HMRC monthly performance reports, HMRC quarterly performance update; release schedule: monthly and quarterly
Handle new tax credit and Child Benefit claims and changes of circumstances for UK customers
| Quarter | Handled in an average (days) |
|---|---|
| 2017-18 Q4 | 14 |
| 2017-18 Q3 | 14 |
| 2017-18 Q2 | 14 |
| 2017-18 Q1 | 13 |
Our target for 2018 to 2019 is to handle new claims and changes of circumstances for UK customers within an average of 22 days across the year
Source: HMRC quarterly performance update; release schedule: quarterly
Handle new tax credits and Child Benefit claims and changes of circumstances for international customers
| Quarter | Handled in an average (days) |
|---|---|
| 2017-18 Q4 | 56 |
| 2017-18 Q3 | 53 |
| 2017-18 Q2 | 51 |
| 2017-18 Q1 | 51 |
Our target for 2018 to 2019 is to handle new claims and changes of circumstances for international customers within an average of 92 days across the year
Source: HMRC quarterly performance update; release schedule: quarterly
3. Design and deliver a professional, efficient and engaged organisation
Lead minister
The Rt Hon Mel Stride MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury
Lead officials
Jon Thompson, First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive
Jim Harra, Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive
3.1 Engage our people
| How we will achieve this |
|---|
| Continue to make consistent positive progress towards achieving the Civil Service Employee Engagement Index benchmark (61% in 2017) |
| Increase the percentage of colleagues each year who feel they have the skills required to do their job effectively, working towards the Civil Service benchmark (88% in 2017) |
3.2 Transform our estate
| How we will achieve this |
|---|
| Continue to transform our estate into modern, adaptable workspaces, creating 13 new Regional Centres over the next 5 years, serving every nation and region in the UK |
| Ensure these Regional Centres bring staff into more cost-effective buildings, while making it easier for HMRC teams to collaborate and modernise the way we work |
3.3 Deliver sustainable savings
| How we will achieve this |
|---|
| Secure £186 million of sustainable efficiencies in 2018 to 2019, bringing the cumulative total 2018 to 2019 sustainable efficiencies to £566 million, and to work towards £717 million of annual, sustainable efficiencies by 2019 to 2020 |
| Achieve £1.9 billion of cumulative savings over the Spending Review |
3.4 Support cross-government commitments
| How we will achieve this |
|---|
| Continue to support the Greening Government commitments to reduce our impact on the environment, working towards the 2019 to 2020 targets |
| Contribute to the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, reducing inequality through recruitment of a diverse workforce (contributes to SDG 10) |
| Further strengthen our ability to police the National Minimum Wage, with new teams to undertake proactive reviews of those employers considered most at risk of non-compliance |
| Ensure developing countries have full access to global automatic tax information exchange systems and continue to build the capacity of tax authorities in developing countries (contributes to SDG 17) |
Our performance
Employee engagement 50% in 2017
Source: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts; release schedule: annually
Skills 79% in 2017
Colleagues who feel they have the skills required to do their job effectively
Source: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts; release schedule: annually
Making sustainable savings £229 million April 2017 to March 2018
Source: HMRC quarterly performance update; release schedule: quarterly
Our target is to secure £186 million of sustainable efficiencies in 2018 to 2019.
Our equality objectives
We have set objectives to help us advance equality. These are:
-
to further develop our understanding about the impact of our services on customers and identify more clearly those who need enhanced support
-
to provide digital services that are accessible and usable by the widest possible range of customers
-
to ensure that our public sector duty is reflected in appropriate HMRC policies, processes, projects and training
-
to create and maintain a diverse workforce that better reflects HMRC customer base
-
to create a working environment that values difference and fosters an inclusive workplace culture where HMRC employees from all backgrounds, can give their best, are treated fairly, valued for their contributions, and where they can progress their careers
Our finances
Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) - £3.99 billion
Resource DEL (including depreciation) - £3.74 billion
Capital DEL – £0.25 billion
Annually Managed Expenditure – £39.76 billion
Control totals included in this document are in line with those presented in the Main Supply Estimates 2018 to 2019 and are currently subject to Parliamentary approval. Any changes arising from the Parliamentary approval process will be reflected in due course.
Source: Main Supply Estimates 2018 to 2019
An additional £260 million has been allocated to HMRC to support preparations for exiting the EU. This was announced alongside the Spring Statement 2018 and will be confirmed through the Supplementary Estimates 2018 to 2019.
Our people
As at 31 December 2017, HMRC had 59,930 full-time equivalent employees, not including its agencies.
Source: Office for National Statistics Public sector employment data; release schedule: quarterly