Treasury Committee chair ‘remains concerned about self-assessment phone queues’
The Treasury Committee raised concerns after HMRC said its self-assessment helpline will focus on priority calls in the run-up to the deadline.
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Your support makes all the difference.The chair of the Treasury Committee has said she remains concerned that taxpayers could be sitting in long phone queues in the run-up to the deadline for filing self-assessment returns.
The committee previously raised concerns after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said its self-assessment helpline will focus on priority calls in the run-up to the filing deadline.
Customers calling with queries that can be quickly and easily resolved online will be directed to HMRC’s online services from December 11 until the self-assessment deadline on January 31.
The Treasury Committee previously wrote to HMRC chief executive Jim Harra and on Tuesday it published a response from Mr Harra.
I thank Jim Harra for his prompt response however I remain concerned that this reduction in service will leave people sitting in long phone queues in the run-up to the deadline for filing tax returns
Treasury Committee chairwoman Harriett Baldwin said on Tuesday: “People calling the helpline are doing so because they are trying to get their taxes right.
“I thank Jim Harra for his prompt response however I remain concerned that this reduction in service will leave people sitting in long phone queues in the run up to the deadline for filing tax returns.”
The letter from Mr Harra said: “The run-up to the 31 January self-assessment (SA) filing deadline is one of the busiest times of year for HMRC, our customers and their representatives.
“We always allocate additional resource to answering SA queries during this period so that we can support as many SA customers as possible, and this year is no different.
“The SA peak is already a significant digital event and in 2023, customers and their representatives filed 97% of returns online, with 91.3% filing on time.
Calls about simple queries will be directed to our online services, so those customers don’t have to wait on the phone and their query can be resolved more quickly and efficiently
“Nearly 12.5 million online payments were made in the weeks before 31 January 2023. Nevertheless, we also received 5.5 million SA helpline calls last year, with 1.2 million in the eight weeks running up to the filing deadline.
“As I explained to the committee at the hearing on 18 October, our strategy is for more of our customers to self-serve online. Most of our customers are digitally able and report a good experience when they engage with us using online services.”
The letter also said: “It is important to note that we are not restricting access to SA support. Customers are still able to call us, but we are prioritising those calls directly related to returns, repayments, filing and complex matters.
“We are also prioritising calls from vulnerable and digitally excluded customers. Calls about simple queries will be directed to our online services, so those customers don’t have to wait on the phone and their query can be resolved more quickly and efficiently.”