Research and analysis

HMRC Costly Channels usage amongst Small Businesses: Full Report

Published 29 May 2025

Prepared by BMG Research Limited for HM Revenue and Customs

Authors: Jack Harper, Victoria Perllman, Simon Wood and Owen Lewis

Report Number: 798

April 2024

Disclaimer: The views in this report are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of HMRC. 

1. Glossary

Term	Definition
Small businesses	Businesses with a total gross income between £9,170 and £10m per annum and fewer than 20 employees.
IDBR	The inter-departmental business register (IDBR) provides an authoritative sample frame of businesses registered for VAT or PAYE with information matched from Companies House, Dun & Bradstreet and other sources. The IDBR sample are businesses with less than 20 employees and found on the IDBR.
Self Assessment	Sole traders or partnerships who have submitted a Self Assessment return to HMRC in the latest tax year and have a turnover between £9.17k and up to the VAT threshold).
Costly behaviour	Every customer interaction with HMRC, whether by post, phone or a digital service, incurs cost for HMRC as well as for the customer. Customer interactions that involve direct contact with a HMRC colleague, or manual processing of customer information, incur more cost for HMRC than other methods. For the purposes of this research customer use of these methods is called ‘costly behaviour’.
Channels	These are ways to communicate and interact with people or organisations. They can be written, oral, visual and digital. They can be used to inform, request, give feedback, or build relationships.
Costly channels	In this research, these are ways to communicate with customers which involve direct contact with an HMRC colleague, or manual processing of customer information, and are therefore more costly to HMRC than other channels. Examples include web chat (adviser led), telephone, post and face to face interactions. Channels which may be costly to customers and not to HMRC were out of scope in this research.
Non-costly channels	In this research, these are ways for customers to seek information or answer their queries which do not need the direct involvement of an HMRC colleague and therefore incur less cost for HMRC. Examples include HMRC automated online and telephone services, asking friends or family for advice, or a tax agent.
COM-B framework	COM-B is a behavioural framework which focuses on 3 components essential for any behaviour to occur. The components are capability (C — an individual’s psychological and physical ability), opportunity (O — external factors), and motivation (M — conscious and unconscious processes inspiring behaviour). They can be used to identify what conditions are required for behaviour change (B) to occur and barriers to behaviour change.

2. Executive summary

HM Revenue and Custom’s (HMRC) vision is to be a trusted and modern tax and customs department. Their strategy is to deliver more of what customers need through digital services whilst retaining services for those customers who need to speak to them, for example because these customers need assistance using digital services, are vulnerable or have complex tax affairs. HMRC therefore commissioned BMG Research to understand channel usage among small businesses, including what is driving it.

The research comprised of a quantitative survey of 2,001 small businesses. The survey asked small businesses about their interactions with HMRC in the last 12-months and used customer experience scenarios to ask about hypothetical behaviour. There were 8 different scenarios in total. Small businesses were each given 2 of the scenarios and asked for their first choice of contact channel to capture their behaviour in different situations. The contact channel choices were classified as either costly or non-costly. Follow-up questions were asked about their choice to capture what was driving their decision.

In the previous 12 months, non-costly channels had been used by small businesses more than costly channels to interact with HMRC. Searching HMRC webpages and using a tax account were the most frequently selected channels (non-costly channels), followed by telephone (costly channel). The majority of small businesses had used more than 1 channel, with over a third using both costly and non-costly channels.

Among small businesses, HMRC was perceived positively. The need for reassurance was the biggest factor influencing channel choice. Small businesses were worried about the consequences of making a mistake and how HMRC would react to them. This led them to select channel options which they perceived as less likely to result in a mistake. Reassurance was the main reason for selecting the telephone. Where there was less need for reassurance, small businesses chose non-costly channels. Ease and familiarity were the main reasons small businesses opted for online channels.

Previous experience of contacting HMRC impacted future channel choice. Small businesses were likely to choose channels familiar to them and not choose those where they’d had a previous negative experience. However, a negative experience of phone was more tolerated than for online, with a higher proportion of small businesses continuing to choose telephone despite a negative past experience compared to online.

Improving reassurance through digital services could reduce small businesses’ use of costly channels.

3. Introduction

3.1 Research background

HMRC is responsible for collecting the money that pays the UK’s public services and helps families and individuals with targeted financial support. This includes responsibility for helping small businesses meet their tax responsibilities and receive any benefits, tax credits, refunds or other support they are entitled to claim.

A service such as this inevitably means that HMRC has a high volume of customer interactions occurring on a continuous basis. Every customer interaction with HMRC, whether by post, phone or a digital service, incurs cost for HMRC as well as for the customer. Each of these customer interactions has a cost for HMRC — whether it is the cost of providing postal, telephone and digital services for customers, or processing and responding to information which customers provide. Some of these interactions are more costly to HMRC than others — for example a telephone conversation between a customer and a HMRC colleague will cost more for HMRC to provide than a customer using information on HMRC’s GOV.UK website. Customer interactions that involve direct contact with a HMRC colleague, or manual processing of customer information, incur more cost for HMRC than other methods. For the purposes of this research customer use of these methods is called ‘costly behaviour’.

For the purposes of this research, costly behaviours were identified as customers use of communication and interaction methods which have higher costs to HMRC than other methods. While costly behaviour is appropriate to meet complex or additional customer support needs, it is not sustainable if applied to all communication with HMRC. HMRC wanted to understand channel usage among small businesses, including what is driving small businesses’ choices around channel.

3.2 Research objectives

The research set out to answer the following questions:

• what is the prevalence of channel use amongst small businesses?
• what drives use of costly channels amongst small businesses?
• how does the customer experience of small businesses influence their channel choice, and what is the link to more costly customer channels?
• are there potential opportunities for small businesses to use a different channel?

The research also set out to quantify a hypothetical COM-B framework previously developed to explore costly behaviours. More details of the COM-B framework can be found in section 4.

3.3 Costly and non-costly definitions

Within this research project, costly channels were defined as customer communication and interactions which involve direct contact with a HMRC colleague, or manual processing of customer information.

The following were defined as costly channels to HMRC:

• telephone contact with an HMRC colleague
• HMRC colleague-led web chat
• post
• face to face contact (carried out by Customer Compliance for a compliance check, enquiry or to prevent criminality)

Non-costly channels were defined as:

• online: to search for information on the HMRC webpages on GOV.UK
• online: HMRC Digital Assistant
• online: HMRC app
• online: use of the Business Tax Account or Personal Tax Account accessed via Government Gateway
• online: HMRC YouTube Tutorial
• online: non-HMRC webpages
• telephone: use of HRMC’s automated phone system
• asking a tax agent or accountant
• asking a friend, family member or colleague

4. COM-B

4.1 Background to COM-B

COM-B is a behavioural framework which focuses on 3 components essential for any behaviour to occur. The COM-B framework incorporates the principles of capability (C — an individual’s psychological and physical ability), opportunity (O — external factors), and motivation (M — conscious and unconscious processes inspiring behaviour) as 3 components capable of changing behaviour (B). It aids understanding of what conditions are required for behaviour change to occur and provides a framework for exploring barriers to behaviour change.

According to the COM-B framework, to deliver or maintain a behaviour an individual must have the Capability to do it, the Motivation to do it, and external factors must provide the individual with an Opportunity to do it ^{[footnote 1]}. If just 1 of these is not in place, then the desired change will not occur ^{[footnote 2]}.

The COM-B framework was incorporated into this research following initial scoping using the Individuals, Small Businesses and Agents survey to develop a hypothetical model of the drivers of costly behaviour. Over 30 factors were linked with costly behaviours.

This research was commissioned to explore costly behaviours among small businesses in more depth, building on the hypothetical COM-B framework, which can be found in the appendix.

5. Methodology

5.1 Sampling and opt-outs

A random probability sample was drawn from the small business sample provided by HMRC. The small business sample comprised of HMRC Self Assessment data and the ONS Inter-Departmental Business Register data:

• Self Assessment data (sole traders or partnerships who have submitted a Self Assessment return to HMRC in the latest tax year and have a turnover from £9,170 to the VAT threshold)
• Inter-Departmental Business Register database (IDBR businesses with less than 20 employees)

The survey was targeted at those within the business responsible for dealing with HMRC.

All contacts sampled from the HMRC Self Assessment database were sent an opt-out letter which invited them to participate in the survey via an online link. A breakdown of the sample provided and number of completed surveys achieved can be found in the accompanying technical report.

5.2 Method

The questionnaire was cognitively tested to check customers’ understanding of questions, followed by a pilot survey. 

This survey primarily used Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) and Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) where requested by the participant. The average survey length was 15 minutes. The survey, and information letters, were offered in Welsh for those small businesses located in Wales. More information on methodology and sampling can be found in the accompanying technical report.

5.3 Achieved surveys

The research comprised of a quantitative survey of 2,001 small businesses, 1,798 surveys were completed by telephone and 203 completed online. A sample of this size carries a maximum confidence interval of ±2.2% at the 95% level of confidence.

A full breakdown of response rates for each subgroup can be found in the accompanying technical report.

5.4 Fieldwork period

Prior to fieldwork, 48 pilot surveys were conducted between 31 May 2023 and 6 June 2023. Results from these were included in the final data. The main fieldwork was undertaken between 4 July 2023 and 22 August 2023.

5.5 Questionnaire structure

Small businesses were asked about their general perceptions of HMRC and their experience of contacting HMRC in the last 12 months. The questionnaire then showed each respondent two scenarios and asked where they would go in each one and why.

5.6 Use of scenarios

To understand what is driving costly channels, a scenario-based approach was used to identify specific actions and preferences in set situations, rather than generic preferences.

Eight scenarios were created based on problems or questions small businesses may encounter. These were grouped into payment, searching for information and making a query:

Payment

• I am not sure that I have paid the correct tax
• I am making a payment to HMRC
• I want to challenge a penalty I have received

Searching for information

• I am a start-up small business, when do I need to register to pay tax?
• I am doing my Self Assessment tax return and I want to check which expenses I can claim for, it’s getting close to the deadline
• I want information on how to register for VAT

Query

• I have received my tax bill and I believe it is incorrect
• I have just paid HMRC but the payment isn’t showing on my tax account

Each respondent was shown 2 scenarios. Scenarios were selected at random, with respondents shown scenarios from 2 of the 3 different scenario groupings. Within each scenario, respondents were asked which contact channel they would go first to answer their query. Respondents were then asked their reason for selecting this as their first channel.

If the respondent selected a costly channel as their first choice they were shown a non-costly HMRC online contact channel option (selected at random) and asked why they had not chosen that channel in the first instance. The non-costly channel options given to respondents were searching online for information on the HMRC webpages, the HMRC digital assistant, the HMRC app, the online HMRC business or personal tax account and HMRC YouTube tutorials.

Finally, respondents were asked how long they would spend looking for an answer to their query through their chosen non-costly channel before using a different channel to answer it.

5.7 How the COM-B was linked to the survey

The COM-B framework was linked to the survey to test the prevalence of behaviour change barriers among small businesses. Given over 30 factors contributed to the COM-B framework, the behaviours across Capability, Opportunity and Motivation which were considered most important were prioritised, and questions developed to quantify each behaviour within the survey. The full list of behaviours and details of how the questions were matched to the COM-B framework can be found in the appendix.

6. Approaching Analysis

The scenario based approach enabled an understanding of where respondents would go in hypothetical situations and their reasons why. During survey design, a number of questions were included to give context to the scenarios and enabled exploration of other characteristics or behaviours which may impact on the use of costly customer behaviours. For example, characteristics such as being self-employed, part of a partnership, the size of firm, turnover, years operating and experience in the role determined costly behaviour. Overall perceptions of HMRC, including, trust, support, fairness, transparency, confidence, knowledge and level of worry over the consequence of getting something wrong were also analysed.

Contact channels used over the last 12 months were explored to understand how past contact experience impacted on behaviour. This included a focus on which taxes they contacted HMRC about, which channels were used and whether their overall contact experience was positive or negative.

The results set out below explore how characteristics, perceptions and past contact experience impact channel choice, as well as the scenario approach.

7. Perceptions of HMRC

7.1 Insights

Small businesses perceived HMRC positively as an organisation, placed trust in HMRC as an organisation and believed they were treated fairly by them.

The research findings show small businesses were confident in how they paid their taxes but were worried about making mistakes and the consequences of making a mistake (both in the level of support HMRC would provide and the penalties given).

This resulted in choosing channels they trusted when they had questions and queries to gain an answer.

7.2 Overall experience

Overall, views of HMRC were positive, with almost 2 in 3 (64%) rating their experiences of HMRC over the last 12 months as good and slightly more than 1 in 10 (12%) rating their experiences of HMRC as poor.

Table 1: Rating of overall experience of HMRC over the last 12 months (all respondents)

Summary: Good	Summary: Poor
64%	12%

Notes:

1. B01. Thinking of all your experiences of HMRC over the last 12 months, how would you rate HMRC?
2. Base: All respondents (2001).

Positive ratings were lower for small businesses with employees than those with no employees (58% compared to 71%), although levels of negative ratings were similar across all sizes of small business.

7.3 Confidence and knowledge

Close to 4 in 5 (79%) felt confident that they are paying their taxes correctly, and just 1 in 20 (6%) did not. Feeling confident in dealing with HMRC was lower, at 63%, with 14% disagreeing.

Around 3 in 5 (63%) said they were knowledgeable about the taxes they pay, while 1 in 10 (9%) said they were not.

Table 2: Rating of confidence in and knowledge of HMRC (all respondents)

Question	Positive rating	Negative rating
Confident paying my taxes correctly (B04)	79%	6%
Confident dealing with HMRC (B04)	63%	14%
Knowledgeable about the taxes you pay (B05)	63%	9%

Notes:

1. B04. How confident do you feel with the following tasks?
2. B05. How knowledgeable are you about the taxes your business has to pay?
3. Base: All respondents (2,001).

7.4 Trust, fairness and transparency

Levels of trust in HMRC as an organisation were high, with 68% rating HMRC positively in this respect and 10% rating it negatively. Similarly, perceptions that HMRC treats customers fairly were high, with 71% rating HMRC positively in this respect and 7% rating it negatively.

Fewer small businesses agreed that HMRC is transparent about its decisions (53%), than it is trustworthy or fair.

Table 3: Rating of trust in, fairness of and transparency of HMRC (all respondents)

Question	Positive rating	Negative rating
Trust HMRC as an organisation (B03)	68%	10%
HMRC treats me fairly (B02)	71%	7%
HMRC is transparent about its decisions (B02)	53%	11%

Notes:

1. B03. How much is HMRC an organisation you trust?
2. Summary: B02. How strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements?
3. Base: All respondents (2,001).

7.5 Worry over consequences of mistakes, support received from HMRC and penalties

When asked to rate their level of worry, almost 3 in 10 (29%) small businesses were worried about what might happen if they made a mistake on their taxes. There was some uncertainty whether HMRC would be supportive if they made a genuine error, with half agreeing this would be the case (53%), and 1 in 10 (12%) disagreeing.

Around half (45%) believed that HMRC would not penalise them if they made a genuine error, while 1 in 6 (16%) disagreed.

Table 4: Worry about making a mistake and perceptions of HMRC (all respondents)

Question	Positive rating	Negative rating
Worry about consequences of making a mistake (B06)	38%	29%
HMRC will be supportive if I make a genuine error (B02)	53%	12%
HMRC will not penalise me if I make a genuine error (B02)	45%	16%

Notes:

1. B06. How worried you are about what might happen if you make a mistake on your taxes?
2. Summary: B02. How strongly you agree or disagree with the following statements?
3. Base: All respondents (2,001).

7.6 Customers most likely to be worried about the consequences of making a mistake

Those who outsource all financial work were more likely to be worried about the consequences of a mistake (34%), as were those who had had a negative prior contact (38%), compared to all small businesses (29%).

Those lacking trust in HMRC were more likely to be worried about the consequences of making a mistake (59%), as were those who were not confident in paying their taxes correctly (65%) compared to all small businesses. Younger businesses (those in operation for up to 5 years) also showed greater levels of worry (39%), suggesting inexperience may increase levels of worry.

8. Interactions with HMRC

8.1 Insights

Two-thirds of small businesses (67%) used an accountant or tax agent for at least some of their finance work.

Self Assessment, PAYE and VAT were the tax regimes small businesses were most likely to contact HMRC about.

Four-fifths of small businesses (79%) had contacted HMRC in the previous 12-months (and 21% did not) using multiple channels. Small businesses were more likely to use a combination of costly and non-costly channels (37%), than only costly (9%) or only non-costly (32%) channels.

Non-costly channels were used more frequently for contact with HMRC. Two-thirds of small businesses (68%) contacted HMRC via non-costly channels, and close to half (46%) contacted HMRC via costly channels. HMRC webpages (54%) and the business or personal tax account (51%) were the most used contact channels, followed by telephone (42%).

Reflecting on their previous experiences, non-costly channels were more likely to result in more positive customer ratings than costly channels, with higher ratings for ease, accuracy of information and resolving queries. Of the costly channels, telephone was most highly rated by small businesses for getting information quickly, being easy to understand and helping to resolve the query.

8.2 Outsourcing

Two-thirds (67%) of small businesses outsourced at least some of their finance work, including 18% who outsourced all of it.

Table 5: Outsourcing accounts, payroll and tax work (all respondents)

Work outsourced	Percentage
Do all work within the business	32%
Do some work within the business and outsource some work	50%
Outsource all work	18%
Summary: Outsource some/all	67%

Notes:

1. Source: S01. Thinking about the work your business needs to undertake for its accounts, payroll, and tax, do you do it all within the business or do you outsource some or all of it to an accountant, tax agent or payroll bureau?
2. Base: all respondents (2,001).

Those that outsourced all their work were more likely to use costly channels when interacting with HMRC (52%) compared to all small businesses (46%).

8.3 Tax regimes most contacted about

Self Assessment, PAYE and VAT were the tax regimes customers were most likely to contact HMRC about (46%, 41% and 37% respectively).

Just under 1 in 5 had contacted HMRC regarding Company/Corporation Tax (18%) or other tax, such as Capital Gains Tax (16%).

Table 6: Tax contacted about in the last 12 months (where contacted HMRC in the last 12 months)

Tax contacted about	Percentage
Self Assessment for the self-employed or partnership	46%
PAYE: Payroll and National Insurance contributions	41%
VAT	37%
Company Tax, also known as Corporation Tax	18%
Other tax (for example Capital Gains Tax)	16%
Construction Industry Scheme payments	6%
Benefits in kind or statutory payments for example Maternity pay	4%
Import/export taxes	3%
Excise Duties	2%
None	2%
Don’t know	1%

Notes:

1. Source: C02. When contacting HMRC through the following channels, which taxes did you contact HMRC about?
2. Base: contacted HMRC in the last 12 months (1,643).

8.4 Number of contact channels used

Close to 4 in 5 (79%) had contacted HMRC in the last 12 months, and 3 in 5 (59%) had used more than 1 channel, including 2 in 5 (42%) who had used 3 or more channels.

Table 7: Number of channels used to contact HMRC in the last 12 months (where contacted HMRC in the last 12 months)

Contact	Percentage
Contacted HMRC	79%
Summary: More than 1 channel	59%
1 channel	20%
2 channels	17%
3 channels	16%
4 channels	12%
5 or more channels	14%

Notes:

1. Source: C01. Over the last 12 months how have you contacted HMRC with a query (this includes if you have logged into your business tax account)?
2. Base: all respondents (2,001).

Small businesses who had used 1 channel in the last 12 months were more likely to select ‘other’ (7%) when asked which channel they used, and 2 in 5 (39%) of this group indicated this was through an agent. This suggests the use of an agent might cut down the need to use HMRC channels.

8.5 Contact channels used

Within the last 12 months, 7 in 10 (68%) small businesses had contacted HMRC via non-costly channels, and close to half (46%) via costly channels.

A third (32%) had used only non-costly channels, while 1 in 10 (9%) had used only costly channels. Just under 2 in 5 small businesses (37%) had used a combination of both costly and non-costly channels.

HMRC webpages and the business or personal tax account (non-costly channels) were the most used contact channels, used by over half of small businesses (54% and 51% respectively).

Telephone was the third highest contact channel used (42%) and the most commonly used costly channel.

Of the remaining costly channels, 1 in 10 (12%) used postal contact, and a similar proportion (8%) used online web chat, with just 2% using face-to-face.

Table 8: Contact channel used in the last 12 months (all respondents)

Channel	Percentage
Online — the HMRC webpages on GOV.UK	54%
Online — the Business Tax   Account/Personal Tax Account	51%
Telephone	42%
Online — to use any other HMRC services	23%
Online — via a commercial software provider	13%
Post	12%
Online — Digital Assistant	11%
Online — Adviser led web chat	8%
Used the HMRC app	7%
Face to face	2%
Have not contacted HMRC in the last 12 months	21%

Notes:

1. Source: C01. Over the last 12 months how have you contacted HMRC with a query (this includes if you have logged into your business tax account)?
2. Base: all respondents (2,001).

8.6 The experience of contact channels

Reflecting on their previous experience, non-costly channels were rated more positively than costly channels when contacting HMRC in terms of being easy to do (64% using non-costly channels agreed compared to 47% of those using costly channels), helping them get the information they required quickly (60% compared to 46%) and providing accurate information (75% compared to 60%).

Table 9: Agreement with statements about contact with HMRC (where contacted HMRC in the last 12 months)

Statement	Non-costly Channel	Costly Channel
Was easy to do	64%	47%
Helped me get the information I required quickly	60%	46%
Provided information that was easy to understand	64%	58%
Provided accurate information	75%	60%
Helped me to resolve my query	63%	55%

Notes:

1. Source: C03. Thinking about when you have contacted HMRC, to what extent on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree, do you think that [insert code selected at C01]?
2. Base: Non-costly channel (1,834), costly channel (929).

As shown in table 10, most online non-costly channels were perceived as easy, accurate and helpful with resolution. However, the digital assistant performed poorly across all metrics, particularly in relation to helping to resolve their query (38% agreed) and helping get the information they required quickly (39% agreed).

Table 10: Small businesses’ experience of non-costly channels (where contacted HMRC in the last 12 months via online non-costly channels)

Non-costly Channel	Was easy to do	Helped me get the information I required quickly	Provided information that was easy to understand	Provided accurate information	Helped me to resolve my query
Searching for information online on the HMRC webpages on GOV.UK	66%	62%	66%	81%	69%
Online Business Tax Account/Personal Tax Account	70%	70%	73%	83%	71%
Online Digital Assistant	48%	39%	50%	54%	38%
Other Online HMRC services	60%	54%	55%	69%	61%
Online via a commercial software provider	71%	64%	69%	75%	60%
HMRC app	65%	62%	59%	72%	65%

Notes:

1. Source: C03. Thinking about when you have contacted HMRC, to what extent on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree, do you think that [insert code selected at C01]?
2. Base: where contacted HMRC (each contact channel is based on 146 to 514 responses).

Most types of costly channels were perceived as less easy, less accurate and less helpful with resolution than non-costly channels, with HMRC’s Digital Assistant and post perceived poorest.

Two-thirds of small businesses rated web chat as easy to use (66% agreed) and 61% rated webchat as accurate ( 61%). However, web chat was rated low for speed (39%) and resolution (43%).

Three-fifths rated telephone as providing information that was easy to understand (60% agreed) and as helping them to resolve their query (63% agreed). However, along with post, these costly behaviours performed less well than non-costly channels across all dimensions.

Telephone performed best for accuracy (64%), resolution (63%), and ease of understanding information (60%), but weakest for ease (41%) and speed (48%), suggesting small businesses might be willing to tolerate a slower and more difficult experience for resolution.

Less than half of small businesses who used post rated their experience positively.

Table 11: Small businesses experience of costly channels (where contacted HMRC in the last 12 months via costly channels)

Costly Channel	Was easy to do	Helped me get the information I required quickly	Provided information that was easy to understand	Provided accurate information	Helped me to resolve my query
Online adviser led web chat	66%	39%	49%	61%	43%
Telephone	41%	48%	60%	64%	63%
Post	48%	0%	51%	47%	46%

Notes:

1. Source: C03. Thinking about when you have contacted HMRC, to what extent on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree, do you think that [insert code selected at C01]?
2. Base: where contacted HMRC (each contact channel is based on 146 to 514 responses).

9. The scenarios

9.1 Insights

Respondents were presented with a series of scenarios and asked where they would go in each situation to gain a more accurate reflection of their behaviour. Eight scenarios were created based on problems or questions small businesses may encounter. These were grouped into payment, searching for information and making a query.

The majority of small businesses chose at least 1 non-costly channel. Of the 4 top contact channels, 3 were asking an agent, searching on HMRC webpages and using their business or personal tax account.

The contact scenario heavily impacted which type of contact channel was chosen. When gathering information, customers were more likely to choose non-costly channels. When querying something, customers were more likely to choose telephone. Query scenarios were most likely to result in a costly channel choice compared to payment and information scenarios.

However, within the broad scenario types, channel choice differed by situation. Within the payment scenarios, challenging a penalty was more likely than the other payment scenarios to lead to small businesses choosing a costly channel, implying small businesses were more likely to choose costly channels for queries perceived as more complex, or higher risk with regard to making a mistake or those with a financial impact.

9.2 Channel selection for payment, information and query scenarios

Payment and query scenarios were more likely to drive costly channels than seeking information (26% and 36% respectively compared to 9%).

In a payment scenario, small businesses were most likely to choose asking an agent or accountant (28%) or telephone (23%). The query scenarios were similar, with telephone (33%) being the top channel selected followed by ask an agent or accountant (31%).

However, searching for information was more likely to result in non-costly channels with the majority (43%) choosing to search on the HMRC webpages followed by ask an agent or accountant (30%).

Table 12: Channel small businesses would go first to answer a payment scenario

Channel	Percentage
Ask a tax agent or accountant	28%
Telephone HMRC adviser	23%
Business/Personal tax account (online)	21%
Online to search on the HMRC webpages	13%
Phone HMRC automated phone system	3%
Online HMRC adviser led web chat	2%
Online HMRC Digital Assistant	1%
Online HMRC app	1%
Online — non-HMRC webpages	1%
Write to HMRC (Postal)	1%
Ask a friend, family member or colleague	1%
Other	5%
Don’t know	1%
Summary: Non costly behaviour	68%
Summary: Costly behaviour	26%

Notes:

1. Source: D01…K01: In this scenario, where would you go first to answer your query?
2. Base: those that were shown the payment scenarios (1,500).
3. Base size is responses based.

Table 13: Channel small businesses would go first to answer an information scenario

Channel	Percentage
Ask a tax agent or accountant	30%
Telephone HMRC adviser	7%
Business/Personal tax account (online)	8%
Online to search on the HMRC webpages	43%
Phone HMRC automated phone system	1%
Online HMRC adviser led web chat	1%
Online HMRC Digital Assistant	1%
Online HMRC app	1%
Online — non-HMRC webpages	4%
Write to HMRC (Postal)	0%
Ask a friend, family member or colleague	1%
Other	2%
Don’t know	2%
Summary: Non costly behaviour	88%
Summary: Costly behaviour	9%

Notes:

1. Source: D01…K01: In this scenario, where would you go first to answer your query?
2. Base: those that were shown the information Scenarios (1,501).
3. Base size is responses based.

Table 14: Channel small businesses would go first to answer a query scenario

Channel	Percentage
Ask a tax agent or accountant	31%
Telephone HMRC adviser	33%
Business/Personal tax account (online)	14%
Online to search on the HMRC webpages	8%
Phone HMRC automated phone system	5%
Online HMRC adviser led web chat	2%
Online HMRC Digital Assistant	0%
Online HMRC app	1%
Online — non-HMRC webpages	1%
Write to HMRC (Postal)	1%
Ask a friend, family member or colleague	0%
Other	3%
Don’t know	1%
Summary: Non costly behaviour	61%
Summary: Costly behaviour	36%

Notes:

1. Source: D01…K01: In this scenario, where would you go first to answer your query?
2. Base: those that were shown the query Scenarios (1,001).
3. Base size is responses based.

9.3 Channel selection for challenging a penalty

While payment and query scenarios were more likely to result in small businesses choosing costly channels than seeking information, there was some variation within the type of scenario.

Within the payment scenarios, challenging a penalty was the largest driver of costly channels and resulted in more small businesses selecting telephone (44%) compared to searching on HMRC to challenge a penalty (8%).

Within the query scenarios, believing a bill is incorrect led to the highest levels of selecting telephone, 34%, compared to 6% searching on HMRC.

This indicates more complex scenarios are more likely to lead to higher levels of costly channel use.

10. What is driving costly channel choice

10.1 Insights

The need for reassurance was the most influential factor in deciding channel choice — and drew small businesses into telephone channels so they could have a conversation with a HMRC agent and gain reassurance. That need drew small businesses into costly channels — rather than them being unwilling or reluctant to use non-costly ones. This need for reassurance was further reiterated through the COM-B framework analysis.

Low levels of awareness reduced the likelihood to pick non-costly channels. The HMRC app and YouTube tutorials were less likely to be chosen due to lower levels of awareness.

A sizeable proportion of small businesses were using an agent or accountant in each scenario suggesting they prefer to use the expertise of somebody else.

Negative experiences with the HMRC webpages tended to put small businesses off future use. Conversely, small businesses with a negative telephone experience continued to use the channel, implying their seeking of reassurance is more important than their previous negative experiences. Improving reassurance through digital services could reduce the use of costly channels.

10.2 Reasons for choosing costly channels

Seeking reassurance by speaking to someone was the top reason for selecting a costly channel across all scenario types, selected by 68% of small businesses. Trust in getting correct information and speed for payment and query scenarios were frequent reasons given for selecting costly channels.

Table 15 below provides more detail on reasons given for choosing costly channels by each  scenario types — payment, information and query.

Table 15: Reasons for choosing costly channels (all respondents by scenario type)

Reason	Payment	Information	Query
It is reassuring to speak to someone	69%	68%	67%
It is quicker to get the answer	40%	20%	43%
I trust this method	37%	36%	38%
I trust this will give me the correct information	35%	23%	30%
It is usually easy to find what you need	25%	30%	22%
I always do this first	24%	21%	19%
It is my usual source of information	17%	15%	11%
I have not had a good experience of using other methods	8%	6%	11%
It is a secure data channel	4%	3%	6%
My situation is unique / complex	2%	3%	2%
I prefer to use the expertise of somebody else	1%	2%	0%
I do not have internet access/a smart phone	0%	4%	0%
Other reason	5%	11%	6%

Notes:

1. Summary: D02/E02/F02/G02/H02/I02/J02/K02 by D01/E01/F01/G01/H01/I01/J01/K01. Why would you use this method first?
2. All scenarios. Responses based.
3. Base: all scenarios (3,938).

The main reason for choosing the costly channel telephone was reassurance, chosen by 3 in 4 small businesses (74%). This was followed by trust (40%), speed (36%), accuracy (33%), ease (25%) and habit (23%).

10.3 Reasons for choosing non-costly channels

The main reasons for selecting non-costly channels across all scenario types were habit (35%), ease (34%), trust (33%) and speed (33%). A preference to use the expertise of somebody else was selected more by small businesses for query scenarios (31%)  compared to payment scenarios (22%) and information scenarios (21%).

Table 16: Reasons for choosing non-costly channels (all respondents by scenario type)

Reason	Payment	Information	Query
I trust this method	34%	32%	32%
It is usually easy to find what you need	32%	39%	29%
It is my usual source of information	32%	37%	33%
It is quicker to get the answer	31%	34%	32%
I trust this will give me the correct information	29%	29%	30%
I always do this first	28%	32%	29%
I prefer to use the expertise of somebody else	22%	21%	31%
I pay for their expertise	20%	15%	22%
It is reassuring to speak to someone	11%	11%	19%
I like to try to find the information myself first	7%	10%	8%
It is a secure data channel	6%	6%	6%
I have not had a good experience of using other methods	4%	5%	6%
It is available 24/7	3%	5%	3%
Other reason	6%	4%	6%

Notes:

1. Summary: D02/E02/F02/G02/H02/I02/J02/K02 by D01/E01/F01/G01/H01/I01/J01/K01. Why would you use this method first?
2. All scenarios. Responses based.
3. Base: all scenarios (3,938).
4. Choices below 2% across all 3 scenario types are not shown.

10.4 Reasons for not choosing HMRC online channels by scenario type

The respondents who selected a costly channel as their first choice, were shown a non-costly HMRC online contact channel (selected at random) and asked why they had not chosen that channel in the first instance. For payment and query scenarios, wanting reassurance was the most common reason for not selecting an HMRC online channel in the first instance (32% for both instances). In information scenarios, having an agent was the most common reason for not selecting HMRC online channels first (28%), followed by wanting reassurance (24%).

Table 17: Reasons for not choosing HMRC online channels by scenario type

Reason	Payment	Information	Query
I would be reassured by speaking with someone	32%	24%	32%
I do not usually use this	21%	18%	21%
I have/pay somebody to do this on my behalf	21%	28%	23%
I do not feel confident/competent online	18%	16%	16%
I am not aware of this method	17%	20%	20%
It takes a long time to use	13%	14%	16%
It would be difficult to find what I need	13%	19%	16%

Notes:

1. Source: Summary: D03/E03/F03/G03/H03/I03/J03/K03. Why would you not [insert non-costly channel] in the first instance?
2. Scenarios 1 to 8. Responses based.
3. Base: between 436 and 445 depending on method.
4. Top 7 reasons shown.

10.5 Reasons for not choosing specific HMRC online channels

A need for reassurance was selected as the most common reason for not choosing the non-costly channels options of HMRC webpages, Digital Assistant and business or personal tax accounts (32%, 36% and 34% respectively). Paying somebody was in the top 5 reasons for not choosing HMRC online channels in the first instance.

Perceptions it would be difficult to find what was needed and a lack of online confidence/competence were also in the top 5 reasons for not selecting HMRC online channels.

The most common reason given for not selecting the HMRC app and HMRC YouTube tutorials in the first instance was a lack of awareness (26% and 36% respectively). One-sixth of small businesses (17%) also cited a lack of awareness as a reason given for not selecting the Digital Assistant.

Around 1 in 5 said that they do not usually use the Digital Assistant (23%), the HMRC app (21%), the business or personal tax account (20%), and HMRC YouTube tutorials (23%).

Perceptions it would take a long time was chosen by 23% of small businesses as a reason for not using HMRC webpages, and by 16% as a reason for not using the HMRC YouTube tutorials.

Table 18: Reasons for not choosing specific HMRC online channels

Reason	HMRC Webpages	Digital Assistant	HMRC App	Business/ Personal Tax Account	HMRC YouTube Tutorials
I would be reassured by speaking with someone	32%	36%	24%	34%	22%
I have/pay somebody to do this on my behalf	26%	23%	23%	30%	17%
It would be difficult to find what I need	25%	17%	13%	17%	7%
It takes a long time to use	23%	14%	6%	12%	16%
I do not feel confident/competent online	20%	18%	14%	17%	14%
I do not usually use this	16%	23%	21%	20%	23%
My situation is unique/complex	6%	2%	2%	2%	1%
I have not had a good experience of using it	6%	10%	2%	5%	6%
I am not aware of this method	6%	17%	26%	10%	36%
I do not trust this method	4%	13%	8%	6%	5%
I do not trust the information will be correct	3%	7%	3%	5%	2%
Don’t know	4%	3%	4%	4%	3%

Notes:

1. Source: Summary: D03/E03/F03/G03/H03/I03/J03/K03. Why would you not search online for information on the HMRC webpages on gov.uk in the first instance? (question wording changes based on contact method)
2. Scenarios 1 to 8. Responses based.
3. Base: between 436 and 445 depending on method.
4. Choices below 5% across all 3 scenario types are not shown.

10.6 COM–B framework linkage to drivers of costly channels

COM-B is a behavioural framework used to identify barriers to behavioural change. The COM-B framework incorporates the principles of capability (C), opportunity (O), and motivation (M) as 3 components capable of changing behaviour (B). It focuses on what conditions are required for behaviour change to occur and provides a hypothetical framework for understanding and exploring barriers to behaviour change.

The research enabled quantification of the hypothetical COM-B framework through testing the reasons behind channel choice using a scenario approach.

The results highlighted that ease, fear and reassurance were the most prevalent drivers of costly channels. These affect the COM-B framework across the different components of Capability, Opportunity and Motivation rather than being concentrated within 1 component, for example only Capability.

Reassurance in particular was complex and nuanced. Firstly, it linked with understanding (tax guidance is complicated which creates the need for explanation and reassurance), which influence individuals having the capability (knowledge) to change behaviour. Secondly, it linked in with speed (lack of speed prompts a need for reassurance). Finally, it linked in with emotional needs (where queries are complex or high risk with regard to making a mistake there is a greater need for reassurance), which influence individuals having the motivation (reassurance obtainable) to change behaviour. Improving reassurance through digital services could reduce the use of costly channels.

Issues with regards to data security, scams or lack of IT infrastructure conversely had little impact on driving use of costly channels. This may reflect that the need for reassurance is as much an emotive issue as it is practical, or that these issues are generally viewed as lower priority by businesses.

Table 19: Links to COM-B framework

COM-B Framework Links	Percentage
Wider pressures cause lack of bandwidth — take the easiest channel	85%
Fear of doing the wrong thing causes customers to use the phone or face to face	84%
Tax guidance is complicated and confusing — creates need for explanation and reassurance	84%
Infrequent need to contact HMRC makes familiar channels more appealing	71%
Online interaction creates an expectation of an immediate response, but background processes still needed. Lack of quick response prompts a need for reassurance, and chasing	66%
Telephone provides more reassurance than online, especially if questions are more critical or complex	45%

Notes:

1. Source: Breakdown of questions used in the appendix.
2. Base: All respondents.
3. Not all aspects of the COM-B shown.

10.7 Perceptions and characteristics driving costly channels

There were specific characteristics which were linked with choosing costly channels (based on statistical analysis ^{[footnote 3]}, which were:

• those with 10 to 19 employees (63%)
• those with a turnover of £40,000 to less than £10 million (50%)
• not self-employed (57%)
• business operated 5 years or less (60%)
• 5 years or less in the role (61%)
• outsource all work (52% compared to 40% that do all work in-house)

Time in the role and the business operating for 5 years or less may indicate a lack of experience and influences a small business’ need for costly channels, as they seeks reassurance.

No statistical differences were observed (using bivariate analysis) to identify potential relationships between characteristics and choosing costly channels in the payment scenarios.

The following small businesses were more likely to have chosen costly channels when seeking information:

• those self-employed and in a partnership
• those with a low knowledge of taxes

The following were more likely to have chosen costly channels when dealing with a query:

• being fairly new to the role
• those who were very worried about the consequences of a mistake

10.8 How contact experience drives costly channels

When considering contacting HMRC, a previous negative telephone or tax account experience did little to change the choice of channel. Those who had previously had a negative experience were as likely to use the same channel in future as those who had previously had a positive experience. Broken down, 31% of those who had previous negative telephone experiences and 33% of those who had previous positive telephone experiences chose telephone as the first channel they would use. Similarly, 22% of those who had previous negative or positive experience with their tax account chose this method as the first channel they would use.

However, small businesses appear less lenient of HMRC webpages, with 25% of those who had previously had a negative experience choosing webpages as the first channel they would use, as compared to 31% of those who had previously had a positive experience.

In addition, a quarter (24%) of those who had previously had a negative experience of using  HMRC webpages chose telephone in all the scenarios, compared to 14% of those who had had a positive experience. This highlights the importance of ensuring positive experiences of non-costly channels to reduce small businesses choosing costly channels in the future.

Table 20: Channel selected based on previous experience (all respondents by channel)

Channel	Used channel and negative experience	Used channel and positive experience
Telephone	31%	33%
HMRC Webpages	25%	31%
Tax Account	22%	22%

Notes:

1. Summary: C01 (contact channel used), C03 (contact experience), D01.K01 (where would you go first in a scenario).
2. Base: response based: telephone (473) HMRC Webpages (600) Tax Account (407).

11. How long small businesses would wait before using a different channel

Across all scenarios, the majority of those who chose a non-costly channel claimed they would only spend up to 30 minutes trying to look for an answer to their query before using a different channel (59%), with 1 in 5 (21%) stating they would spend between 30 minutes and an hour.

Table 21: Length of time customers would wait before opting for another channel for all scenarios (all respondents)

Time	Percentage
Under 30 minutes	59%
Between 30 minutes and 1 hour	21%
Between 2 and 4 hours	4%
Between 5 and 24 hours	3%
Between 1 to 2 days	4%
Over 3 days	5%
I would not use another method	2%
Don’t know	1%

Notes:

1. Summary: D04/E04/F04/G04/H04/I04/J04/K04. How long would you try looking for an answer to your query before using a different method to answer your query?
2. All scenarios. Responses based.
3. Base: 1,714.

Small businesses were willing to wait longer before opting for another channel in response to the payment and incorrect tax bill scenarios. Over 1 in 10 (14%) small businesses stated they would wait between 1 and 2 days, and a higher proportion stated they would wait over 3 days before opting for another channel.

Table 22: Length of time customers would wait before opting for another channel for payment and incorrect bill scenarios (all respondents)

Time	Scenario: Please imagine you are making a payment to HMRC	Scenario: Please imagine you have received a tax bill but believe it is incorrect and you want to query it
Under 30 minutes	34%	32%
Between 30 minutes and 1 hour	14%	23%
Between 2 and 4 hours	4%	1%
Between 5 and 24 hours	9%	8%
Between 1 to 2 days	14%	14%
Over 3 days	20%	15%
I would not use another method	4%	2%
I would not expect a response/confirmation	1%	N/A
Don’t know	0%	6%

Notes:

1. Summary: D04/E04/F04/G04/H04/I04/J04/K04. How long would you try looking for an answer to your query before using a different method to answer your query?
2. All scenarios. Responses based.
3. Base: 1,714.

12. Considerations

Overall perceptions of HMRC were positive and reflections of previous experience showed non-costly channels receiving better positive ratings than costly channels. However, in response to the specific scenarios presented to small businesses, customer behaviour was being affected by fear of making a mistake and the need for reassurance. We hypothesise this can lead to (costly) behaviour which reduces the risk of making a mistake.

The need for reassurance was the biggest factor influencing channel choice. That need draws customers into telephone channels where they can have a conversation to gain reassurance.

When considering the scenarios presented, costly channels were perceived to perform better at resolution than online HMRC services, and online via a commercial software provider.  

A sizeable proportion of small businesses used an agent. Those who outsourced all the work the business needs to undertake for its accounts, payroll and tax were more likely to use costly channels than those who do some or all work within their business if they need to contact HMRC. Their agent could be providing the information and guidance they could obtain through non-costly channels and consequently they choose costly channels to get reassurance.

Non-costly channels were already popular and being widely used but awareness of some services, such as YouTube is low. The challenge is to provide the levels of reassurance needed by small businesses through these channels and raise awareness of where they can get this online.

Ease, speed, habit and trust were the biggest reasons for selecting non-costly channels. These factors must be achieved to keep driving customers to non-costly channels. If non-costly channels can meet customers’ needs, they could reduce the number of small businesses that choose costly behaviours.

13. Appendix

13.1 Com-B Framework

Capability — Physical: skills, abilities, proficiencies

• infrequent need to contact HMRC makes familiar channels more appealing

• poor reading comprehension or English not a first language – prefer to hear things on the phone than to read for themselves

• inability to find what is needed quickly from Google (or GOV.UK), so call the helpline

Capability — Psychological: knowledge, attention, decision-making

• negligent non-compliance followed by panic and reaching for the easiest or most reassuring channel

• complex situation — feels easier to talk to someone about it all, rather than find all the solutions online

• wider pressures cause lack of bandwidth — take the easiest channel

Opportunity — Physical: environment, context, resources

• lack of access to IT or broadband forces use of telephone or face to face

• difficulties in engaging an intermediary or agent, drives more contact with HMRC than would otherwise be needed

• online interaction creates an expectation of an immediate response, but background processes still needed. Lack of quick response prompts a need for reassurance and chasing

• telephone is a very effective, easy channel for agents — no reason not to use it

• HMRC letters about tax credits prompt a need for reassurance; sending a letter may prompt an offline response — even when no response is required

• tax guidance is complicated and confusing — creates need for explanation and reassurance

Opportunity — Social: social norms, pressures, conformity, comparisons

• agents chase for their clients — they are pressured for updates

• social networks, social media, gossip, advice from friends — how do other people make contact, what advice do they have?

• advice from experts — Martin Lewis tells people to call the helpline

Motivation — Reflective: beliefs about consequences, identity, goals

• fear of doing the wrong thing causes customers to use the phone or face to face

• innate channel preference — not just for HMRC. For example, I’m not someone who uses online

• bad experience of another online service puts you off

• concern about data security

• reluctance to contact HMRC about changed circumstances when these will have negative effects on tax/benefits, then need to spend more time sorting it out

• suspicion of email scams and other types of scams, reduces confidence in online systems

Motivation — Automatic: emotions, incentives, rewards

• belief that you’ll get a better outcome from telephone etc than online because you can explain your situation and be reassured of getting the appropriate response

• telephone provides more reassurance than online, especially if questions are more critical or complex

• lack of trust in HMRC — assumption that HMRC will do what is best for itself, so need to deal with it ‘in person’

• chasing money — use telephone to feel confident that something is happening. Not always clear from online

• habit — have always used the telephone — do so unthinkingly

• question the value of setting up a whole account for one interaction, even if it will then make future interactions easier

13.2 Capability measures alignment

Capability — Physical: skills, abilities, proficiencies

Infrequent need to contact HMRC makes familiar channels more appealing.

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.1. I always do this first
• D02.2 It is my usual source of information
• D02.15 I like to try to find the information myself first

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.1. I do not usually use this
• D03.14 I am not aware of this method

Poor reading comprehension or English not a first language — prefer to hear things on the phone than to read for themselves.

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.6. I need support with speaking English / Welsh

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.5. I need support with speaking English / Welsh
• D03.17 I do not feel confident/competent online

Capability — Psychological: knowledge, attention, decision-making

Complex situation — feels easier to talk to someone about it all, rather than find all the solutions online.

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.5. My situation is unique / complex
• D02.16 I prefer to use the expertise of somebody else

Reason for not using self-serve channel

• D03.4. My situation is unique/complex

Wider pressures cause lack of bandwidth – take the easiest channel.

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.1. I always do this first
• D02.2. It is my usual source of information
• D02.3. It is easy to find what is needed
• D02.4. It is quicker to get the answer
• D02.8 it is available 24/7

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.2. It would be difficult to find what I need
• D03.3. It takes a long time to use

13.3 Opportunity measures alignment

Opportunity — Physical: environment, context, resources

Lack of access to IT or broadband forces use of telephone or face to face.

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.7 I do not have access (for example internet)

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.6 I do not have access (for example internet)
• D03.15 Logging in is complicated
• D03.16 I cannot remember my password

Online interaction creates an expectation of an immediate response, but background processes still needed. Lack of quick response prompts a need for reassurance and chasing.

• Poor experience in C03.2. from self-serve channels

Reasons for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.4. It is quicker to get the answer
• D02.11 I have not had a good experience of using other channels

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.7 It is not always available
• D03.10. I have not had a good experience of using it

Tax guidance is complicated and confusing – creates need for explanation and reassurance.

Perceptions on:

• B05 I am knowledgeable about the taxes my business has to pay
• B06 I worry about the implications of making a mistake on taxes
• B04.2 I am confident I pay my taxes correctly

Linked to channels used and reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.14 It is reassuring to speak to someone

Or reasons for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.13 I would be reassured by speaking with someone

Opportunity — Social: social norms, pressures, conformity, comparisons

Agents chase for their clients – they are pressured for updates.

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.4. It is quicker to get the answer

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.3. It takes a long time to use

Social networks, social media, gossip, advice from friends – how do other people make contact, what advice do they have?

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.9. I have heard other people say other channels will not help me

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.8. I have heard that this channel will not help me

13.4 Motivation measures alignment

Motivation — Reflective: beliefs about consequences, identity, goals

Fear of doing the wrong thing causes customers to use the phone or face to face.

• Linked to channels used

Perceptions on:

• B05 I am knowledgeable about the taxes my business has to pay
• B06 I worry about the implications of making a mistake on taxes
• B04.2 I am confident I pay my taxes correctly

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.10 I trust this will give me the correct information
• D02.13 I trust this channel
• D02.14 It is reassuring to speak to someone

Reasons for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.13 I would be reassured by speaking with someone

Bad experience of another online service puts you off

• Poor experience in C03. 2 from self-serve channels

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.11. I have not had a good experience of using other channels

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.10. I have not had a good experience of using it

Concern about data security.

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.12. It is a data secure channel

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.11. I am worried about data security

Suspicion of email scams etc, reduces confidence in online systems.

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.12. It is a data secure channel

Reason for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.11. I am worried about data security

Motivation — Automatic: emotions, incentives, rewards

Telephone provides more reassurance than online, especially if questions are more critical or complex.

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.14 It is reassuring to speak to someone

Reasons for not using self-serve channel:

• D03.13 I would be reassured by speaking with someone

Lack of trust in HMRC — assumption that HMRC will do what is best for itself, so need to deal with it ‘in person’.

Perceptions on:

• B02.1 HMRC treats me fairly
• B02.2. HMRC is transparent about its decisions
• B03. I trust HMRC as an organisation
• B02.3. HMRC will be supportive if I make a genuine error
• B02.4. HMRC will not penalise me if I make a genuine error
• B02.5. HMRC is consistent in their approach

Reason for selecting adviser channel:

• D02.10. I trust this will give me the correct information
• B04.1.  I have confidence when dealing with HMRC

Reason for not using self-serve channel

• D03.9 I do not trust the information will be correct
• D03.12 I do not trust this method

*[VAT]; Value Added Tax

1. The Principles of Behaviour Change Communications ↩

2. Achieving behaviour change — A guide for national government ↩

3. Bivariate analysis was used to see which characteristics and perceptions were driving costly channels within each of the 3 scenario types. Bivariate analysis is a statistical analysis technique to understand the relationship between 2 variables. ↩