Taxpayers are waiting up to three months for repayments of overpaid tax, as frustration mounts over errors and delays at Revenue & Customs.

Six out of 10 tax advisers said they had spent more time and money dealing with Revenue service problems over the past year, according to a poll by the ICAEW, an accountancy institute. It put much of the blame on the Revenue’s efficiency drive, which has seen the closure of local offices and the loss of many experienced staff as it cuts costs, in real terms, by 5 per cent a year.