Put a group of bookkeepers and accountants in the room and the conversation will always get round to, “What a shambles HMRC are!”
What are the HMRC responsible for?
For small businesses, the UK HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) manages tax collection and provides guidance on tax obligations. It ensures businesses pay the correct amount of income tax, VAT, and corporation tax. HMRC offers resources and support for maintaining proper financial records, filing tax returns, and understanding tax reliefs and allowances. Additionally, it oversees National Insurance contributions, helping businesses comply with employment regulations. HMRC also combats tax evasion, offering tools and advice to prevent errors and fraud. By supporting compliance and providing assistance, HMRC helps small businesses navigate their financial responsibilities effectively.
Contacting the HMRC
Anyone who has had to contact HMRC will know it can be a bit of a challenge.
The main points of contention are:
- Waiting on the phone for over an hour!
- After waiting for an hour being cut off due to them being too busy to take the call!
- Misleading or Inaccurate advice!
- The HMRC agent informing you that you need to speak to another department!
- Receiving letters for liabilities that have been paid!
- Rude and unhelpful members of staff!
- The most confusing and clunky website!
and the list goes on and on… so yes, it can be very frustrating, and should our tax regulator be more organised and helpful, yes they should!
How to deal with contacting the HMRC
At Tandem we contact the HMRC to file tax returns, arrange payments or refunds, and ensure compliance with tax laws. We may call them with queries about tax reliefs and deductions, manage National Insurance contributions, and address discrepancies. We do this day to day, to help businesses navigate regulations, avoid penalties, and stay financially efficient. So yes, we contact them a lot!
However, every time I am on the telephone and on hold, getting frustrated and angry, I remind myself the person who picks up my call is a person, with issues like us all, and deserves my courtesy and respect as would anyone else I would deal with. At times they do not make this easy, but maybe this could be an expectation on their behalf based on previous encounters from other users?
I have noticed over the past couple of years that if you have to contact a department that is not mainstream, the agents are very polite, helpful and endeavour by the end of the call that my question has been answered. They do not seem to have the pressures of the more commonly used departments and maybe as they only focus on one subject provide better and accurate advice.
As consumers we are quite forgiving, for example, to our Mobile Phone providers. Contacting a massive phone provider entails the same contentions as stated before, however we renew our contracts and stay loyal to them!
Why do we stay loyal to providers even though we now we may get a better deal elsewhere? Because as people we don’t like change!
Does HMRC need a massive overhaul? Of course it does!
We must believe that alongside the Government, HMRC are looking at ways to improve their service. Presently that may seem a bit of a way off, but let’s keep the faith.
Our advice for contacting HMRC with a query
So my advice would be before anyone considers contacting HMRC for a query, to first see if their accounting professional can answer or assist in the matter.
Please feel free to contact me at Tandem Business Solutions to see if we can assist you in anyway.
You can get in touch with me at Tandem, by hitting the Book a Call button at the top of this website.