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John Andrews of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group ( www.litrg.org.uk )investigates whether HM Revenue and Customs' initiative to facilitate contact with them really works.

Introduction - The Test

HMRC have launched a new part of their website aimed at making contact easier.

So how did they do? We tried to find out on behalf of the various groups we aim to represent.

We decided to follow the instructions on the website (http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kbroker/hmrc/contactus/start.jsp) for a range of potential customers:

• A pensioner wanting a face to face meeting to have something explained
• Someone with a sight impairment wanting some forms in large print
• A migrant wanting to speak to “their tax office” having lost his P45
• A student wanting a tax repayment, but not sure how to go about it
• A single mum wanting to speak to someone about the letter she had written on tax credits
• A non-resident who wants to stop his UK bank deducting tax from him

Results 

The pensioner

The pensioner will go to the “Pensioners” section identified for them, but will then reach a dead end. Nothing under any of the content helps.

The pensioner might then return to the home Contacts page and try another category called “All Individuals”. This then provides a further 41 website links, covering the likes of Tax Evasion Hotline, Tariff Classification Service, National Insurance Deficiency Enquiries and IR35 Enquiries.

Nowhere does it tell the pensioner what to do.

The sight impaired customer

At first glance there is nothing in the main menus to help someone with special needs (unless you are Welsh).

However if you looked right at the foot of the page then between Feedback and Careers there is the phrase Accessibility & Specialist Services. This will actually take you to a page where a range of help for those with disabilities is covered.

Here it is mentioned that you can ring any HMRC Helpline if you use a textphone. But you cannot. Most need separate textphone lines and not all Helplines have those.

However we are delighted to see the introduction of a helpline for people who need something in Braille. People with other needs, such as large print or audio, are not told what to do.

But when we spoke to the Braille Helpline they told us that they can indeed supply all the other services too. But they will need a caller’s national insurance number (not a fact mentioned on the website). The number to ring is 0845 366 7887.

If as a disabled customer you wanted to approach a local Enquiry Centre or you wanted help to fill in forms then two separate live links would not give you that assistance, instead they send you back to the Contact home page from where you have just come. You are no further forward.

The migrant

The migrant would take the “Employed” option from the Home page and which gives you a limited choice but includes Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax for the employed. This is rather an odd heading as most employed people recognise PAYE, which is not mentioned on the “Employed” page.

However this link takes you to a “Find a tax office” facility which tells you to ring your usual tax office. If not known it asks you to enter an Employer reference or the HMRC 3-figure Employer code. If you have neither of those you are not offered any other alternative.

Ironically there is foreign language help for migrant workers if you follow the Accessibility & Specialist Services route identified in the previous example. There you will find leaflets in 11 different languages which will tell you what the national minimum wage was in 2005. Just in case you did not know, HMRC are responsible for ensuring that employers operate the national minimum wage legislation correctly.

The student

The student is not catered for as a category on the Home Page, despite having certain unique tax characteristics. Similarly there is nothing for anyone wanting a tax repayment.

The student, if they are lucky, might follow the route of the migrant and would be able to enter a 3-figure Employer code which would then provide them with a telephone number to ring.

The single mum

The single mum fares rather better than our other customers as she finds she can either go to “Families” or “Tax Credits” and will be directed to the Tax Credits Helpline.

They may or may not be able to help her with her query as correspondence is dealt with by separate units from the Helpline.

The non-resident

The non-resident is lucky as he has a separate category on the Home page just for him. He is then directed to another page where he finds just the information he wants 'Register to receive bank and building society interest without tax taken off'. He follows the links only to find that it only deals with the forms and the subject for those who are residents.

He is offered no alternative.

Conclusion

HMRC have lost the opportunity to communicate in simple terms to their customer base. In particular, the unrepresented population who need their hands held and to be directed quickly and easily to someone who can solve their problem, are let down badly.

When this is combined with very slow (and expensive) Helplines, and poor and misleading coverage in local phone directories, it does make one wonder how serious is the commitment to improved customer service.

As we constantly say to HMRC, do not offer facilities without doing the customer journeys for yourselves and proving that they can be done.