Tax cheats! Shocking figures uncovered by the Mail show that less than a third of staff at HMRC are going into the office – despite bosses claiming its HQ is 66% occupied

They’re quick to take hard-working Britons to task if their book-keeping doesn’t add up.

But shocking data unearthed by the Daily Mail today suggests that the taxman has been creative with his arithmetic.

When it comes to working from home, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has long been one of the worst performing government departments, with monthly occupancy data for its London headquarters ranging between 48 and 66 per cent last month. 

But those figures only give the proportion of desks that are actually occupied. The Mail can reveal that despite 1,012 employees being based at HMRC‘s office at 100 Parliament Street, it contains only 505 workplaces. 

That means the total number of civil servants who are actually attending range between 242 and 333 – between just 24 and 33 per cent of their total workforce.

Jacob Rees-Mogg – who as former Minister for Government Efficiency introduced the scheme requiring government departments to publish occupancy data – last night said: ‘The service they are providing is simply not good enough’

That means the total number of civil servants who are actually attending range between 242 and 333 – between just 24 and 33 per cent of their total workforce 

Jacob Rees-Mogg – who as former Minister for Government Efficiency introduced the scheme requiring government departments to publish occupancy data – last night said: ‘The service they are providing is simply not good enough.

‘If members of the public could actually get through when they call them, and receive correct advice, and if people’s complaints were being properly dealt with, then it would be fine for offices to sit empty. But that is not happening.’

Meanwhile, fewer than four in ten civil servants working for the taxman across Britain actually show up to the office each day. Despite complaints about poor customer service, just 38 per cent of UK-based HMRC staff were at their desks on an average day last month.

This number fell to as low as 24 per cent for mandarins based in the department’s Whitehall office.

It comes after a damning report by the National Audit Office found members of the public wishing to speak to a tax advisor over the telephone were put on hold for almost 23 minutes.

It comes after a damning report by the National Audit Office found members of the public wishing to speak to a tax advisor over the telephone were put on hold for almost 23 minutes (stock image) 

In January alone, 840,000 calls to HMRC went unanswered. Yet figures disclosed to the Mail under the Freedom of Information Act show that an average of just 23,269 of the Department’s 61,186 employees nationwide have been turning up to the office each day.

And more than 10,000 of HMRC’s 33,806 desks were typically empty throughout the week commencing April 22, the most recent period for which numbers are available.

In April, HMRC introduced new rules that supposedly limit staff to working from home on no more than two days per week. Asked why that hadn’t boosted office attendance to 60 per cent, a source blamed holidays, sick-leave, and ‘off-site’ working.

And an HMRC spokesman insisted ’95 per cent of colleagues expected to attend the office did so in March 2024 and most of those met or exceeded their minimum office attendance expectation’.

A recent Money Mail investigation found some taxpayers are being forced to endure year-long waits for tax refunds and nine-month delays in getting letters responded to. Today’s findings also raise questions about the way in which HMRC and other departments are recording attendance figures at their Whitehall offices.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘The time taken for the taxman to pick up the phone has surged, and taxpayers will be left with little doubt that the work-from-home culture that has taken over HMRC is partly to blame.’