Don't bother calling HMRC…
Discussion
illmonkey said:
I called and was advised I had to send a letter to correct my tax return from 19/20, can’t do it online. I was given VERY strict instructions. Letter sent in, 9 months later it was rejected with no reason.
I phoned up again to be told I left something off, something I was not told to include originally. So I sent an other letter in, some while ago, as the cut off the amend that tax year is April. Their site says they estimate they’ll get to my letter in July.
I can only imagine they’ll tell me it is wrong and it’s too late to make changes, gutted.
It’s a fecking mess. 1st letter took 9 months to process. 2nd is estimated 8…
Oh they are far slower than they used to be. Try getting a refund out of them for another example.I phoned up again to be told I left something off, something I was not told to include originally. So I sent an other letter in, some while ago, as the cut off the amend that tax year is April. Their site says they estimate they’ll get to my letter in July.
I can only imagine they’ll tell me it is wrong and it’s too late to make changes, gutted.
It’s a fecking mess. 1st letter took 9 months to process. 2nd is estimated 8…
I am just saying on this thread that closing the helpline during the quiet time isn't necessarily that much of an issue and might even help if they can clear some other matters instead.
JagLover said:
W12GT said:
It’s worse than that - think about it; if only open 7/8months a year then they won’t be permanent staff, it will be temps who don’t have a clue what they are doing.
They do deal with other things other then Self Assessment queries from taxpayers. That compact is now being reneged upon.
What I find staggering is this:
You (or your accountant) have to work out how much Income Tax/VAT/Corportation Tax you owe.
You (or your accountant) then tell HMRC that figure.
HMRC then send you a bill for that amount, i.e. they tell you the figure that you told them.
So what exactly do they do then ?
You (or your accountant) have to work out how much Income Tax/VAT/Corportation Tax you owe.
You (or your accountant) then tell HMRC that figure.
HMRC then send you a bill for that amount, i.e. they tell you the figure that you told them.
So what exactly do they do then ?
They are a nightmare.
I remember many years ago they actually sent someone to my house to help me when I started self employment. And you could go to their offices and actually speak to someone.
4 years ago after I retired I got a demand through for a refund that according to them I shouldn’t have had. It was obviously a mistake, I could see on my returns that it was a mistake but they couldn’t see it on their end. I couldn’t get them to understand what was wrong after being transferred from pillar to post and spending 2 days on the phone. If I’d been able to go and talk to someone I could have explained in 10 minutes.
In the end I fired it all off to an accountant and haven’t heard a thing since so I’ve no idea if it’s fixed or not. I assume so.
I had to ring them yesterday about VAT.
First time I rang, their automated system asks what you are calling for, then tells you to go online, then hangs up. Doesn't ask if the information it's given you in any way helps you. It didn't, so I had to ring back.
Second time, it said it was directing me to someone, then asked if I was willing to take part in a survey after the call, I said no, it hung up.
Third time, and hour in the queue, finally got through to someone who was as enthusiastic as pig going to slaughter. He put me through to someone else, who was very helpful, knowledgable and sounded like a real person.
It really shouldn't have been that difficult and took so much time.
EDIT;
This is all after I submitted a request to change my VAT from Sole Trader to Limited in April last year. 8 month later (yes, 8 month), they told me that they couldn't do it because I'd put an incorrect date on the request. I raised another transfer request, and someone rang and suggested that they create a new VAT account. They've done that, but it took 3 month, and the new VAT account has it's dated all messed up.
I'm now sat here with 9 month of VAT returns that I can't submit because.
If HMRC relied on customers, it would have gone bust a long time ago. I have literally never experienced service like it.
First time I rang, their automated system asks what you are calling for, then tells you to go online, then hangs up. Doesn't ask if the information it's given you in any way helps you. It didn't, so I had to ring back.
Second time, it said it was directing me to someone, then asked if I was willing to take part in a survey after the call, I said no, it hung up.
Third time, and hour in the queue, finally got through to someone who was as enthusiastic as pig going to slaughter. He put me through to someone else, who was very helpful, knowledgable and sounded like a real person.
It really shouldn't have been that difficult and took so much time.
EDIT;
This is all after I submitted a request to change my VAT from Sole Trader to Limited in April last year. 8 month later (yes, 8 month), they told me that they couldn't do it because I'd put an incorrect date on the request. I raised another transfer request, and someone rang and suggested that they create a new VAT account. They've done that, but it took 3 month, and the new VAT account has it's dated all messed up.
I'm now sat here with 9 month of VAT returns that I can't submit because.
If HMRC relied on customers, it would have gone bust a long time ago. I have literally never experienced service like it.
Edited by TheBinarySheep on Wednesday 20th March 09:29
Edited by TheBinarySheep on Wednesday 20th March 09:32
Eric Mc said:
They've changed their mind.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68616330That really takes incompetence to a whole new level.
They must have known they would be criticised for doing it, and in less than a day, they change their minds. So why even bother to say you are going to do something ?
JagLover said:
illmonkey said:
I called and was advised I had to send a letter to correct my tax return from 19/20, can’t do it online. I was given VERY strict instructions. Letter sent in, 9 months later it was rejected with no reason.
I phoned up again to be told I left something off, something I was not told to include originally. So I sent an other letter in, some while ago, as the cut off the amend that tax year is April. Their site says they estimate they’ll get to my letter in July.
I can only imagine they’ll tell me it is wrong and it’s too late to make changes, gutted.
It’s a fecking mess. 1st letter took 9 months to process. 2nd is estimated 8…
Oh they are far slower than they used to be. Try getting a refund out of them for another example.I phoned up again to be told I left something off, something I was not told to include originally. So I sent an other letter in, some while ago, as the cut off the amend that tax year is April. Their site says they estimate they’ll get to my letter in July.
I can only imagine they’ll tell me it is wrong and it’s too late to make changes, gutted.
It’s a fecking mess. 1st letter took 9 months to process. 2nd is estimated 8…
I am just saying on this thread that closing the helpline during the quiet time isn't necessarily that much of an issue and might even help if they can clear some other matters instead.
eharding said:
Well, now at least there'll be a helpline you can phone to complain that they should have closed the helpline because closing the helpline during the quiet time isn't necessarily that much of an issue and might even help if they can clear some other matters instead.
Why do they need to close the helpline? Surely in a sensible world you simply adjust the number of call handlers to match demand, which appears to be what HMRC are attempting to do at busy times. If that means there’s only a couple of people staffing the phones and not much happening in the summer then that’s got to be better than customers having to wait for months to get someone to deal with a query.alangla said:
Why do they need to close the helpline? Surely in a sensible world you simply adjust the number of call handlers to match demand, which appears to be what HMRC are attempting to do at busy times. If that means there’s only a couple of people staffing the phones and not much happening in the summer then that’s got to be better than customers having to wait for months to get someone to deal with a query.
I think you need to direct that question to JagLover - I was just observing that his earlier comment hasn't aged well over the course of 24 hours. As for what should happen in a sensible world, I'd agree, but this is Planet HMRC we're talking about here.eharding said:
I was just observing that his earlier comment hasn't aged well over the course of 24 hours.
Hasn't it?No doubt there were many complaining bitterly about a helpline being closed during the quietest time of the year, but whether it matters all that much is less clear. I am not in practice any more but I understand that the agent hotline is closed for Self Assessments queries for part of the year as well. Somehow Accountants and tax advisors keep on going regardless.
Eric Mc said:
I can assure you that there is NEVER a slack time when trying to phone HMRC. At ANY time of the year there are inordinate delays.
They just need more people and better systems - and maybe go back to regional offices rather than massive call centre operations.
Many are working from home. One of my staff rang the PAYE department fairly recently, and after three quarters of an hour on hold got through to someone who was watching an old football match. She could hear the TV commentary in the background including the giveaway clue "And Cantona Scores!". They just need more people and better systems - and maybe go back to regional offices rather than massive call centre operations.
JagLover said:
Hasn't it?
No doubt there were many complaining bitterly about a helpline being closed during the quietest time of the year, but whether it matters all that much is less clear. I am not in practice any more but I understand that the agent hotline is closed for Self Assessments queries for part of the year as well. Somehow Accountants and tax advisors keep on going regardless.
You seem to think that there is some mythical "quiet time". There isn't. No doubt there were many complaining bitterly about a helpline being closed during the quietest time of the year, but whether it matters all that much is less clear. I am not in practice any more but I understand that the agent hotline is closed for Self Assessments queries for part of the year as well. Somehow Accountants and tax advisors keep on going regardless.
There is ALWAYS a problem getting through to a human being at HMRC - no matter what time of the year it is. Even worse, getting through to somebody who actually knows anything about tax is even harder.
The separate line for agents (like me) is marginally better but waiting around 20 minutes is pretty much about the shortest possible wait at any time of the year.
The problem HMRC has got these days there are around 12 million self assessment taxpayers. When self assessment started 30 years ago, it was geared to dealing with around 9 million.
The growing complexity of the UK tax system, and the fiscal drag of not increasing thresholds, bands and allowances AND idiotic measures like the Child Benefit Charge have dragged an extra 3 million into the system.
And that's NOT taking into account the mass closure of tax offices and the retirement and non-replacement of staff who actually know their stuff.
Eric Mc said:
You seem to think that there is some mythical "quiet time". There isn't.
There is ALWAYS a problem getting through to a human being at HMRC - no matter what time of the year it is. Even worse, getting through to somebody who actually knows anything about tax is even harder.
The separate line for agents (like me) is marginally better but waiting around 20 minutes is pretty much about the shortest possible wait at any time of the year.
The problem HMRC has got these days there are around 12 million self assessment taxpayers. When self assessment started 30 years ago, it was geared to dealing with around 9 million.
The growing complexity of the UK tax system, and the fiscal drag of not increasing thresholds, bands and allowances AND idiotic measures like the Child Benefit Charge have dragged an extra 3 million into the system.
And that's NOT taking into account the mass closure of tax offices and the retirement and non-replacement of staff who actually know their stuff.
I fully agree that they have got worse over the years and I also agree that the child benefit charge is very stupid. There is ALWAYS a problem getting through to a human being at HMRC - no matter what time of the year it is. Even worse, getting through to somebody who actually knows anything about tax is even harder.
The separate line for agents (like me) is marginally better but waiting around 20 minutes is pretty much about the shortest possible wait at any time of the year.
The problem HMRC has got these days there are around 12 million self assessment taxpayers. When self assessment started 30 years ago, it was geared to dealing with around 9 million.
The growing complexity of the UK tax system, and the fiscal drag of not increasing thresholds, bands and allowances AND idiotic measures like the Child Benefit Charge have dragged an extra 3 million into the system.
And that's NOT taking into account the mass closure of tax offices and the retirement and non-replacement of staff who actually know their stuff.
I would however disagree with their being no quiet period for self-assessment. After all according to the stats 3/4 million tax returns were filed on 31 January alone this year, with December and January being by far the busiest months.
The workflow of my colleagues in private tax alternated between not very busy and being manically busy all January, including weekend and late night working.
119 said:
This is why I pay an accountant.
Never had and will never need to ever contact them.
Whatever you do - don't stop!Never had and will never need to ever contact them.
I closed my business 5 years ago and always have nothing but grief since. In the space of 3 weeks HMRC have told me -
- You haven't paid enough tax
- We owe you a refund of £4060
- You owe us 10k in July (I dont as no longer self employed)
- We owe you 10k
- We owe you a refund of £2769
- You are due a refund of .90p!
- You are due to pay 10k in July again (At this point I've given up)
These are all updates from different calls made to HMRC over the space of 3 weeks, having waited around an hour to get through. Each time telling them precisely the same information. I now know where the boat people go to work when they are collected off the beach.
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