PCS member in HMRC
An extra 4 million people are set to be brought into paying income tax by 2028. 3 million people are set to become higher-rate taxpayers. Income tax thresholds are frozen when inflation and pay are rising. Known as ‘fiscal drag’, this is a way of raising taxes without raising headline rates of tax.
The Tories are attempting to place the burden of paying for their damaging policies onto working-class people.
Ten years ago, HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs – the government department responsible for taxation) proceeded to cut phoneline staff. Numbers of contacts by phone has continued going up.
Many staff on phone lines are given minimal and generic training before being expected to take calls. They are generally overworked, underpaid and micromanaged. Unsurprisingly the ‘churn’ in this area is high.
HMRC took the unprecedented step of closing its self-assessment helpline in summer 2023, followed by a drastic restriction of the helpline in January 2024 – the month when it has the most people calling.
Staff at HMRC know things have been going awry for years. Morale has been low but was boosted by a pay deal worth 13% over three years in 2021. The deal came with various strings attached, and Socialist Party members in HMRC, PCS union members, called for a vote against the package. It involved selling off of terms and conditions, including the abolition of paid lunch breaks. This trade off was downplayed and generally hidden by the current PCS leadership to get the vote through.
Three years later, those staff are back on minimum wage, have to do a late shift each week and have found their ability to work from home highly curtailed.
HMRC staff went from working 42 hours a week with one hour paid lunch to working 37 hours a week. HMRC agreed with pay negotiators that it wouldn’t implement that change until April 2024. If 42 hours is retained, the hourly rate of £10.96 will fall under the minimum wage on 1 April 2024 and therefore they will be entitled to a pay rise. But if HMRC implements the cut to 37 hours then that will arbitrarily increase the hourly rate to £12.44 and staff will ‘magically’ remain above minimum wage without receiving any extra pay.
Such a change would be unprecedented in the civil service. It’s likely that many of the lowest-paid staff would choose to transfer to other government departments and receive more money. HMRC knows this and is being cagey about whether it will make the change. That this is even possible is a failing of PCS pay negotiators in 2021.
But for PCS members there is reason for hope. A coalition of HMRC Group Executive Committee members is coming together, to give a fighting opposition to the ‘Left Unity’ group which until recently had a majority, and which leads the union nationally. Enthused branch reps are preparing to stand in the upcoming PCS elections. Socialist Party members are supporting this development and call on PCS members in HMRC to vote for candidates for change.
