Delays in answering phone calls to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) cost callers £136m last year, it has been estimated. The National Audit Office (NAO) has calculated that members of the public spent £33m on call charges while holding on HMRC phone lines in 2011-12, wasting time worth £103m to them. Some 20 million calls were not picked up at all last year, the NAO added. An HMRC spokesman said standards had slipped "in the past" and the body was "determined" to improve. But Commons Public Accounts Committee chair Margaret Hodge described the situation as "totally unacceptable".

'Staggering'

The NAO said callers have been waiting longer to speak to an adviser - an average of 282 seconds compared with 107 seconds in 2009-10. Many of HMRC's phone lines have 0845 prefixes, which can cost callers on mobile phones between 12p and 41p per minute, whether they are on hold or speaking to someone. Calls from landlines cost between 1p and 10.5p per minute, depending on the time of day.....Read more here on this story: Hanging on phone for HMRC cost public £136m - NAO