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Where Taxpayers and Advisers Meet

Not fit for purpose

pawncob
Posts:5090
Joined:Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:06 pm
Location:West Sussex
Not fit for purpose

Postby pawncob » Fri Mar 01, 2019 1:33 pm

I tried to set up a personal tax account for a client. Entered all the right information, but HMRCs credit check failed to identify her ( as usual. Has anyone ever passed their credit check?)
From there it became a nightmare trying to overcome HMRCs processes. The links to Help just end in a loop back to the same place or state This service is not available. This is not the first time I've encountered this problem. Previously it took many calls to get them to cancel an existing registration which prevented a new registration from taking place. Feedback to HMRC is pointless as the preformatted questions aren't applicable. Does anyone at HMRC ever attempt to correct their software problems? (And if anyone has a contact number for the specific department responsible for on-line registration problems, could they post it, because the link on the HMRC site doesn't work)
With a pinch of salt take what I say, but don't exceed your RDA

robbob
Posts:3228
Joined:Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:01 pm

Re: Not fit for purpose

Postby robbob » Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:34 pm

0300 200 3600

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/online-services-helpdesk

pawncob
Posts:5090
Joined:Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:06 pm
Location:West Sussex

Re: Not fit for purpose

Postby pawncob » Fri Mar 01, 2019 8:16 pm

They can't offer advice, they say it's all on the website.

Go beyond this site and see where you get.
With a pinch of salt take what I say, but don't exceed your RDA

etf
Posts:1278
Joined:Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:25 pm

Re: Not fit for purpose

Postby etf » Thu Mar 07, 2019 5:41 pm

pawncob-you are not alone-see this feeback to an article on Accountingweb:

I have only used Verify once, for a pro bono case referred in late January where an online SATR was needed quickly. I know why people don't use it twice. Once the process was complete, the tax return process was simple, but taking a photo of the ID document and uploading it in an acceptable format took umpteen attempts (when you have no reasonable alternative but a £100 fine, you keep trying).

Thanks (7)
avatar By Sagiquarius 07th Mar 2019 12:52
The system just doesn’t work. I used it for my personal tax, and sat alongside a client who thought that they would like to access their tax account personally. The first use went well, but thereafter it proved impossible to access my own account. I went through the whole process a second time, but using the same email address blocked me out. My client had a very similar problem. I spoke to HMRC’s technical team and was told that these problems were “known about”. Fortunately my firm’s access still works perfectly.

Thanks (3)
avatar By unclejoe 07th Mar 2019 14:08
The whole system is fundamentally flawed at a number of levels. 1) There is no legal requirement to have any photo ID in this country. If you don't drive and don't travel (which was the case for my late mother) you are stuffed.
The government wanted to set up a national ID system some years ago but that was scrapped. So how can it be fair to compel you into a system which requires something you are not required to have? 2) The notion of going out to a private company to verify ID is absurd. Basically, if any fraudster manages to con one of these organisations into accepting a fraudulent ID they then have access to all of the government sites. And since they can select the verifying organisation, they are clearly going to select the one they have conned. 3) It is perfectly possible that no credit reference agency etc has ones data, if you have never used credit for example. What then? I positively try to avoid getting on credit reference agencies databases because I don't want personal data bandied about. And GDPR is a joke. A small local golf club can be prosecuted for using data that it has been freely given, if it uses it to send out unapproved info, yet Experian which has data on me which I have never knowingly consented to is allowed to sell that data to all and sundry for marketing purposes without my consent, and which I did not know it had (and if you think that is wrong I have had proof!). The whole system needs a fundamental rethink.
And the government is moving more and more processes that have no alternative to the flawed online systems in so many areas. If I am one of the poorest in society, with no online access, or learning disabled and unable to handle the technology, I am doubly stuffed. Appalling!.

Thanks (4)


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