“New kids on the block”: New ways of improving tax compliance, trust and well-being within the tax authority and for tax service users

New Public Management (NPM) in the UK transformed public service organisations into cost centres, focusing on cost-efficiency and productivity. We already know from the critical accounting literature the detrimental effects of NPM on civil servants and public services. However, existing studies lack an examination of aspects of good practice, opportunities and possibilities within frontline tax services that improve social inequality and well-being, which can have a knock-on effect of improving tax compliance and trust within the tax system. This paper makes several contributions towards this recent growing body of critical accounting and tax literature by offering an alternative perspective. We demonstrate how tax administration is capable of improving inequality and well-being in the workplace, improving trust and mutual understanding between tax officials and tax service users. We do this through a case study of a recently established tax authority in Wales, the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA). We carried out semi-structed interviews with senior and frontline WRA officials and professional advisers (solicitors). This paper demonstrates how it is possible to implement humanised remote frontline tax services, creating trust and improved well-being amongst tax workers and service users, and offers recommendations for tax authorities and other public service departments