HMRC have closed their self-assessment telephone helpline with immediate effect until at least 4 September 2023. Callers will be re-directed to use HMRC’s digital services instead.
HMRC claim the reason for this is to free up staff time to be able to clear the outstanding backlog of written correspondence which, from my own experience seems to be running about 4 months behind at the moment.
This is a helpline that in the same three month period last year received 1.2 million calls with 900,000 callers staying on the line to speak to someone despite average hold-times approaching 30 minutes.
What could the phoneline closure mean for HMRC?
This temporary closure is incredibly frustrating for taxpayers and advisers and a further indication that HMRC is under-resourced, under-staffed, under-performing and no longer fit for purpose. It throws into more doubt the capacity of HMRC to cope with the proposed introduction of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and it is difficult to see how this will do anything to help reduce the tax gap.
The tax gap is HMRC’s own estimate of the theoretical tax take versus the actual tax take, and for the 2021/22 tax year was an astonishing £35.8 billion, representing just under 5% of the theoretical tax take of £739.3 billion.
Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) has described the closure as a ‘cry for help’.
You can read their full response here.
