Revenue and Customs: Travel

(asked on 10th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to reduce HMRC's backlog of travel expense repayments.


Answered by
Lucy Frazer Portrait
Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This question was answered on 18th March 2022

HMRC make payments for two types of travel expense payments.

Travel and Subsistence claims, which are costs incurred buying food, drink, and parking, are claimed via HMRC’s Online HR system and payments for these expenses are currently up to date.

Moves Adjustment Payments are made when employees incur costs when HMRC have asked them to move permanently and work from another location. Reimbursement is provided as there are additional costs because of this move.

HR policy has recently changed for these types of expenses which has led to an increase in enquiries and claims.

To mitigate the backlog, HMRC has updated their HR Guidance to make it easier for people to understand what they are entitled to. This will avoid questions being raised with HR before a formal claim is made. A new calculator and a Help Card have also been introduced to provide staff with additional support.

Increased resource has also been deployed to clear the backlog. Initially all claims were being checked; this reduced to 30 per cent on 8 March and plans are in place for this to drop to 20 per cent once assurance levels are reached.

Reticulating Splines