A damning report into customer satisfaction at HMRC has recently suggested that waiting times to speak with an advisor are now longer than ever. This fact, coupled with increasingly complex taxation systems is driving many business owners and self-employed traders to find a professional self-assessment service which will see their contact with HMRC minimised.
The Evidence
The recently released evidence suggests that in addition to a series of painful mistakes which have done little to improve the reputation of the tax bureau or its abilities, there is now an average wait of up to four minutes to speak on the phone to HMRC. This figure is not only two and a half minutes longer with the average time in 2010 but is likely to increase towards the end of the tax year and the deadline for filing tax returns; typically when the most customers need to be able to access the assistance they require.
It’s being stated and one in four people hang up before speaking to an advisor and speculation is rife that one of the reasons for this is because customers seeking to access the self-assessment service are charged from the second the automated answering service connects their call. Many MP’s are stating that they are being contacted by frustrated customers, asking the government to intervene.
As Owen Smith, a shadow Treasury Minister suggested that the problems highlighted “evidence of chaos and incompetence in government”, HMRC said it was working to reduce the backlogs.
The Solution
The problem of course is that many business owners need urgent answers to their queries in order to be able to file their tax returns. What they might not be aware of is that the self-assessment service offered by Tax2go as a specialist tax accountant could save them the time and frustration of having to deal directly with HMRC.
