{"id":1252,"date":"2023-12-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/12\/14\/called-hmrc-recently\/"},"modified":"2023-12-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T00:00:00","slug":"called-hmrc-recently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/2023\/12\/14\/called-hmrc-recently\/","title":{"rendered":"Called HMRC recently?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Call queues are becoming a unwelcome feature of communicating with HMRC. In a recent post on the GOV.UK newsfeed a new strategy is emerging. As you would expect, it steers taxpayers towards their online accounts or other information posted online by HMRC. We may be heading for a completely impersonal approach to handle communications between taxpayers and HMRC.<\/p>\n

In their post, HMRC said:<\/p>\n

“Nobody enjoys having to wait on hold on the phone just to resolve a simple query – and those completing Self-Assessment tax returns no longer need to, with more help and advice than ever before available online.<\/p>\n

“But many people, unaware of the extent of online support now out there, are still calling instead, often with questions that could be answered via GOV.UK.<\/p>\n

“Releasing details of the top 5 reasons people call the helpline, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is encouraging everyone to check online when seeking help about their tax return, to get a much quicker and easier result.<\/p>\n

“HMRC received more than 5.5 million calls to the Self-Assessment helpline last year, with 1.2 million calls in the 8 weeks leading up to the 31 January deadline. Around a third of these calls were routine or simple enquiries.<\/p>\n

“The most common calls to the Self-Assessment helpline, which can be checked online are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Do I need to fill in a tax return?<\/li>\n
  2. How do I fill in my online tax return?<\/li>\n
  3. How do I check how much tax I owe?<\/li>\n
  4. Where’s my Self-Assessment tax refund?<\/li>\n
  5. What happens if I can’t pay my tax bill?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    “Using HMRC’s online services means customers can access the information they need to resolve all of these questions quickly and easily – day or night – without the need to call HMRC.”<\/p>\n

    Let’s hope that this drive to push taxpayers towards online facilities does not disenfranchise those who have no access to the internet or who are not tech-savvy. But we may be transitioning towards a society where information – and solutions to problems – can only be solved by searching online data or by interacting with AI systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Call queues are becoming a unwelcome feature of communicating with HMRC. In a recent post on the GOV.UK newsfeed a new strategy is emerging. As you would expect, it steers taxpayers towards their online accounts or other information posted online by HMRC. We may be heading for a completely impersonal approach to handle communications between […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/duffyregan.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}