“HMRC’s permanent move to answer calls to its VAT helpline on just five business days a month is disappointing, as it is likely to cause high demand, long waiting times and lots of hassle for businesses.
“While HMRC has evaluated the trial to close the self assessment helpline during the summer months, it doesn’t plan to formally review it any further, even though the impact of this move on the accuracy of returns won’t be clear for some time.
“Since restricting the self assessment helpline, HMRC has been quick to promote the fact that a record number of taxpayers met the self assessment deadline. However, more people also missed the deadline and some online services require significant improvement.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
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