HMRC's Slow Payday: NHS Staff Left Waiting Three Years for Refund
A worker in the NHS, who wished to remain anonymous, has been told by HMRC that they are owed £2,200 after overpayments on national insurance due to holding multiple roles. However, this amount is unlikely to be processed anytime soon - the wait could stretch up to 33 weeks.
The situation highlights a long-standing problem with HMRC's refund system, which has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In May, the department was again criticised for its slow processing times, but this time it took over four months to process refunds that typically take just four weeks. To address these issues, HMRC claims to be recruiting hundreds of extra staff.
Despite the assurances, the NHS worker's story is a stark reminder of how far behind HMRC remains in dealing with backlogs. The worker has already experienced delays and was told they were likely to wait months for their refund. However, after approaching the Guardian for help, their money was processed within just seven days.
HMRC's spokesperson attributed the delay to increased demand on its services, but even this explanation seems flimsy when compared to other agencies that are able to process refunds with much greater speed and efficiency.
The waiting game appears to be a new normal in HMRC's dealings, with the agency seemingly unable to shake off the backlog of cases that has built up over years.
A worker in the NHS, who wished to remain anonymous, has been told by HMRC that they are owed £2,200 after overpayments on national insurance due to holding multiple roles. However, this amount is unlikely to be processed anytime soon - the wait could stretch up to 33 weeks.
The situation highlights a long-standing problem with HMRC's refund system, which has struggled since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In May, the department was again criticised for its slow processing times, but this time it took over four months to process refunds that typically take just four weeks. To address these issues, HMRC claims to be recruiting hundreds of extra staff.
Despite the assurances, the NHS worker's story is a stark reminder of how far behind HMRC remains in dealing with backlogs. The worker has already experienced delays and was told they were likely to wait months for their refund. However, after approaching the Guardian for help, their money was processed within just seven days.
HMRC's spokesperson attributed the delay to increased demand on its services, but even this explanation seems flimsy when compared to other agencies that are able to process refunds with much greater speed and efficiency.
The waiting game appears to be a new normal in HMRC's dealings, with the agency seemingly unable to shake off the backlog of cases that has built up over years.
. 2k for overpayment? 33 weeks waiting period? what's the deal? they're recruiting more staff, yeah good luck with that... meanwhile we're still stuck in this neverending waiting game. at least the guardian intervened and sorted out the nurse's refund within a week - nice job to them 
. it's like hmrc is trying to be slow on purpose or something 
.
they should get their refund ASAP I mean £2,200 is a lot of money and it's taking them 3 whole years to get it back like what if they need it for something important? And HMRC can't even explain why it's taking so long or how they're going to fix this problem 
it sounds like they just don't have enough staff or something. I've had problems with my own refund too, but at least mine got processed in a few weeks 
. I mean, I know things are busy at HMRC but 33 weeks is ridiculous! They need to sort their act out, get more staff on board or something. It's not like they're asking for the moon here, just a simple refund. And what's with all these excuses about increased demand? Like, we've been dealing with COVID-19 for years now and it's still taking them ages to process stuff... 
... Like, can't they just get it together? I mean, come on, 33 weeks for a £2,200 refund? That's like waiting for the next season of 'Stranger Things' to drop 
. And what's up with all these excuses? "Increased demand"? Give me a break 
... just saying.
And what's up with the 'increased demand' excuse? I've seen smaller companies process refunds in half that time! 
It's like they're intentionally slowing down the process or something. Can't they just sort it out already?! 
! I'm not surprised though, the NHS worker was basically told to wait months and then had to beg for help... it's just the kind of bureaucratic red tape we're used to 
while the backlog grows and innocent people like this NHS worker continue to wait 
.
, i mean we all know the covid pandemic messed up plenty of things, but refunnd processing times shouldn't be one of them. hundreds of extra staff sounds good on paper, but if they're really not getting it done then what's the point? 
, and now they're stuck waiting 33 weeks for their refund? That's just ridiculous 
. They need to get their act together ASAP 
, or else we'll have a whole generation of NHS staff stuck in limbo 
