In our recent post, we talked of the trials experienced by taxpayers of all sizes trying to get to speak to an HMRC officer when VAT gets complicated and you are looking for guidance.
Currently, only 66.6% of calls to HMRC are being answered – in Feb 2024 that equated to 650,000 calls being abandoned by frustrated taxpayers. Chief Executive of HMRC – Jim Harra is honest in his assessment of service delivery, noting that he can’t improve service levels in call centres within the existing staffing levels.
HM Treasury has therefore stepped in with £51m of funding to help improve the level of resources HMRC can access but it has to be noted that it takes time to get a reasonable level of VAT technical knowledge if new staff are to be brought into roles answering calls from taxpayers with technical VAT questions.
Taxpayers have a right to certainty from the tax authorities – there are financial penalties from HMRC applied to VAT errors that a taxpayer makes if they fail to take “reasonable care” in managing their VAT accounting. HMRC say that showing they’ve taken advice is an illustration of taking “reasonable care”.
If HMRC aren’t there to answer the phone to those taxpayers and the search engines just produce more and more confusing commentary that doesn’t quite fit your situation, the Xeinadin VAT team are on hand – whether you are an existing client or not.
Use the contact form below to get in touch.
