Angry Criticism After HM Revenue & Customs Announces Closure of Self-Assessment Taxpayer Helpline
HM Revenue & Customs has announced the three-month closure of its self-assessment taxpayer helpline over the summer and will redirect users to its online tools to free up staff time. The move is intended as part of a new seasonal model, as calls are around 50% higher between January and April than between June and August. The move will free up the equivalent of 350 full-time tax consultants and the tax office says it will prioritize those needing urgent assistance as a result. The helpline will close from Monday, 12 June before reopening again on 4 September.
Professional tax bodies have criticised the move. Gary Ashford, Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, stated that “This sounds like a cry for help in a desperate situation” and argued it demonstrated that HMRC was “unable to deliver on everything it has been mandated to do”. The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) added that the decision would unfairly affect the poorest taxpayers who cannot afford professional help.
The taxman’s mobile app has received accreditation from the government’s online identity assurance system, Verify, meaning that it is now possible to access the service from a smartphone, simplifying self-assessment still further. Around five million people submitted returns electronically last year.
The additional article could explore the use of technology in the tax sector more generally. It could highlight the increasing importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data in handling tax returns. The article could also outline the potential for combining AI with blockchain technology in order to make the entire tax system far more efficient and secure.
The article could point out how AI is already being used to improve some areas of the tax system. For example, the UK tax authority’s Spotlights initiative uses AI to search for problematic tax avoidance arrangements. In addition, the US Internal Revenue Service uses AI in its data mining and scoring program.
The article could additionally explore the potential for blockchain technology to be used in the tax system in future. Blockchain has the potential to provide a secure and transparent ledger of all tax transactions, doing away with the need for manual input or even the need to file tax returns at all.
Summary:
The HM Revenue & Customs will temporarily close down its self-assessment helpline over the summer. Users will instead be redirected to online services to release staff for better priority allocation. The step has received criticism from professional bodies, which predict that lower income taxpayers, specifically sole traders, will experience increased difficulties. As well as its self-assessment app now being available on smartphones, some tax authorities are starting to benefit from using artificial intelligence to identify tax fraudulence and improve data handling for Big Data programmes. Blockchain has the potential for the transparency of all tax transactions in future.
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HM Revenue & Customs will close its self-assessment taxpayer helpline for three months over the summer and direct users to its online tools to free up staff time, the tax authority has announced.
HMRC said it would try the move as part of a new seasonal model for the helpline, which gets far fewer calls over the summer. Calls are about 50 percent higher between January and April than June-August, he said.
The move would free up the equivalent of 350 full-time tax consultants and allow those with urgent calls to be prioritized, the tax office said.
“We continuously review our services to see how they can best serve the public and are taking steps to improve them,” said Angela MacDonald, Deputy Managing Director and Second Permanent Secretary at HMRC.
“Our online services, including the HMRC app, are quick and easy to use and have been vastly improved. I encourage clients to explore them thoroughly before deciding to wait to speak to us on the phone.”
However, the announcement was criticized by some professional tax bodies. Gary Ashford, chairman of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said: ‘This sounds like a cry for help in a desperate situation. This is another clear indicator that HMRC is unable to deliver on everything it has been mandated to do and simply cannot meet the demands of a growing and increasingly complex tax system.”
The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG), an education tax charity, said the development would disproportionately affect those on the lowest incomes, who cannot afford to get professional advice.
Victoria Todd, head of LITRG, added: “The sudden closure of the self-assessment helpline is extremely disappointing and poorly thought out.”
The assistance service will be closed from Monday 12 June and should reopen on 4 September.
https://www.ft.com/content/9e944dae-9f26-4378-89e3-d32999794279
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