Research and analysis

Costing Customer Time

This paper estimates the value of an individual’s time gathering and providing information to HM Revenue and Customs to meet their obligations.

Documents

HM Revenue and Customs Working Paper 8: Costing Customer Time

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Details

HM Revenue and Customs Working Paper 8: Costing Customer Time

The Total Cost to Serve project, of which this paper is part, aims to help HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) meet one of its strategic objectives to improve customers’ experience.

The project aims to find a way to estimate the cost of interactions a customer may have with HMRC, to provide a consistent way of understanding:

  • the split of burden between HMRC and the customer, and

  • how actions by one party can affect costs for both.

In estimating these costs, we can also assess whether we have the right balance of work between HMRC and customer. Although we recognise that third parties (e.g. accountants) may also feel this burden, we have focused on the costs to the final customer.

Published 5 January 2010