MSE News: MPs hit out at HMRC chaos

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"An influential group of MPs has slammed poor service at the taxman's office, highlighting long delays ..."

Read the full story:
MPs hit out at HMRC chaos

dori2o

Meanwhile, many trying to renew their tax credits, also due tomorrow, face huge delays on the phone.

I'm sorry but I have no sympathy at all for those who have left the tax credit renewals til the last minute.

You have from the End of May at least if you are employed to give the information and if you CHOOSE to wait until 1 day before or deadline day to phone in then I'm afraid that's just hard luck.

The same with those who file self assessments online and leave it until the 31st January, then complain because the system is slow and overloaded. The forms are sent out in April. You have 8 months to fill it in. Anyone who is employed/self employed with relatively simple tax affairs has no excuse whatsoever for not filling in the form/submitting online before the October deadline, nevermind the January one.

Yes there are a lot of things wrong with HMRC, I have made this clear on many occassion, but the general public need to start taking responsibility aswell for their own affairs.

Pennywise

dori2o wrote: »

I'm sorry but I have no sympathy at all for those who have left the tax credit renewals til the last minute.

So you have no sympathy for those who didn't receive their tax credit "renewal pack" before July and who tried to phone earlier in May or June to renew it but were refused by the call handler because the "pack" hadn't yet been issued?

Yes, that's right, you phone up in, say May, wait in the queue for 30 minutes or more, then finally talk to a person, who spends ages taking you through security etc., then finally asks what you are phoning about, only to then say, sorry, can't do anything until your renewal pack has been sent out to you!

This is the reality I'm afraid. IF, and only IF, HMRC sent out ALL the renewal packs far earlier, and IF, and only IF, HMRC would accept renewal info over the phone without the "pack" having been issued, then I would agree with your sentiments. Sadly, HMRC make things worse for themselves by introducing stupid procedures that cause more work for themselves.

chrismac1

HMRC have been moving the goalposts on tax credit submissions, starting from October 31 and now we're in July 31. Will they not be satisfied until it is 6 April?

For self-employed people this does present problems because unless they have very simple businesses it is not always easy to get accounts out by 31 July. This is especially the case if you live in a holiday area like me here in the Lakes. From the second week in April through to the end of August, I hope and expect that my pub, B&B, and holiday let clients will have more important things to worry about than sorting out their tax returns. Fair enough, the VERY organised ones who perhaps heve full-time book-keepers can do it, but for those who are doing their own books this is the worst possible time of year for sorting out accounts.

The generally unsympathetic attiude prevalent amongst HMRC does them no credit, as the Treasury Select Committee, the ICAEW, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all have pointed out.

noblog

Pennywise wrote: »

So you have no sympathy for those who didn't receive their tax credit "renewal pack" before July and who tried to phone earlier in May or June to renew it but were refused by the call handler because the "pack" hadn't yet been issued?

Yes, that's right, you phone up in, say May, wait in the queue for 30 minutes or more, then finally talk to a person, who spends ages taking you through security etc., then finally asks what you are phoning about, only to then say, sorry, can't do anything until your renewal pack has been sent out to you!

This is the reality I'm afraid. IF, and only IF, HMRC sent out ALL the renewal packs far earlier, and IF, and only IF, HMRC would accept renewal info over the phone without the "pack" having been issued, then I would agree with your sentiments. Sadly, HMRC make things worse for themselves by introducing stupid procedures that cause more work for themselves.

How can you renew your financial claim for money for up to the previous 12 month tax year if you have not read and checked the details? ....err you cant
Guidance in HMRC says cant a) accept it and b) i'm afraid its technically impossible to do because the computer system program is not set up to accept the details untill it's been sent out:T
:cool: want to miss the phone choas? most forms sent out in May - phone then - we werent busy & everyone can post them - although if you have read and need to make changes prob best to call:A

chrismac1

"Guidance in HMRC says cant a) accept it and b) i'm afraid its technically impossible to do because the computer system program is not set up to accept the details untill it's been sent out."

Or to put this sentence in one word - Jobsworth!

paye

I renewed my tax credit claim 2 weeks before the end date, just wished I'd done it sooner as I got back paid £4K:jThank you mr taxman.

Worried_Mum_3

[/QUOTE]
Its no wonder they are in chaos and taking months to send out packs. I asked to cease child tax credits in 2003 because we reached the upper earnings threshold. HMRC refused and continued to pay. I then had a huge problem getting the money back to them and every year since they have sent out individual packs at huge expense to both me and my husband and guess what, my daughter will be 25 in a few months. If they at least had an age cut off warning on their IT system it would save hundreds of thouands of cost in packs, postage and officer time, reduce the impact on trees and stop me and thousands of others with adult children from having to throw these packs in the bin every year!!! Such a terrible waste and huge inefficiency.

HUDengineer

Just spent over an hour on musical hold on 08453000627, with no indication whatsoever that it would be anything like that long. The sound faded in and out too, so one had to pay attention or fear a lost call. I was steaming at the end of the expensive wait, and then learned that the reason for my call, to trace my missing Coding Notice, was because it hadn't actually been issued at all.

Take a tip from my HMRC call handler, and try to avoid any week with a bank holiday in it.

dtaylor84

Best to avoid days with a "y" in them, too.

AirlieBird

Co-incidentally the Low Income Tax Reform Group did a mystery shopping exercise today to see how long they would be on hold and their "news" item on their website about it contains some interesting advice.

They suggest

Advice to callers


People who cannot get through after a short period of waiting should make a note of when they rang. And if any adverse consequences occur because they were not able to do what HMRC required them to do, they should complain and ask to be compensated

Interesting advice.

http://www.litrg.org.uk/News/2012/promises