Postby etf » Tue Jan 19, 2021 10:36 am
I have to agree with Jason in his article below. A 30 minute wait on some days has been a very good result-as seen on my thread 45 minute waits are not unusual.
HMRC helplines
But with the self assessment deadline falling on a Sunday, Izza called on Harra to open HMRC helplines for the last two weekends of January and to restore agent’s priority access.
“[ICAEW] members are finding it much harder to contact HMRC to resolve tax return related queries and we are hearing reports of members waiting for over half an hour to get through to HMRC,” wrote Izza.
Trouble getting through to HMRC helplines is proving to be a headache for AccountingWEB readers. AccountingWEB contributor Jason Croke said on Any Answers, “Anything to do with VAT registrations, VAT returns, letters and emails just ignored, phones not answering, the registration team message cuts you off after telling you they can't take messages.”
AccountingWEB readers shared similar helpline horror stories from the past few months. Any Answers regular NH, for example, is currently trying to get a response from an inspector on a VAT refund enquiry who stopped answering the phone or emails for two months.
After taking three months to get an SDLT refund, Croke thinks Izza’s letter should go further and not just focus on the January year-ends. “The whole of HMRC is not fit for purpose at present,” he said.