HMRC under fire over 'gimmick' and taxpayers demand to know 'cost'

HMRC has come under fire over its HMRC Welsh app with taxpayers saying it is a "gimmick" with just two in 100 native speakers using it. Campaigners said taxpayers in Wales have a right to know the ccost of the supposed "pet project".

Analysis revealed just two in every 100 native speakers use it. The tax authority launched a Welsh version of its app in June 2022 but just 13,831 native speakers have used the app since it launched, data revealed to The Telegraph by a Freedom of Information request shows.

Of the nearly 900,000 Welsh people who said at the end of December that they could speak the language, just 1.5 per cent use it. Jonathan Eida, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign group, said: “Taxpayers will be demanding to know the cost of a service that seems to be little used.

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“With very few Welsh speakers not also able to speak English, local politicians need to provide clear justification for funding what looks to many like a pet project.” Mr Eida added: “Taxpayers expect government services to be genuinely necessary, not simply gimmicks to appeal to certain voters”.

Lee Jones, Head of Welsh Language Services, HMRC, saidswhen the app was launched in a statement: “We want as many people as possible to be able to use the HMRC app and to support the Welsh language needs of our customers."

Mr Jones went on and said: "HMRC’s Welsh Language Unit in Cardiff worked tremendously hard, together with digital colleagues across the UK to deliver this project.” As well as the app, HMRC supports Welsh speaking customers through the Welsh Language Customer Services team in Porthmadog and the Welsh Language VAT & Excise helpline in Cardiff, delivering advice on a wide range of tax issues to customers wishing to communicate in Welsh.