HMRC relaunches agent dedicated line

HMRC has announced that it is trialling a relaunch of its agent dedicated line. The trial aims to provide a prioritised support service from 14 J‌un‌e 2021 (Mo‌nd‌ay to Fr‌id‌ay 8‌‌‌am to 6‌‌‌pm on 0300‌‌ 200 33‌‌‌11) and HMRC expects calls to this line to be answered within 10 minutes.

To help HMRC maintain the service, agents are requested to spread calls throughout the day rather than phoning as soon as the helpline opens.

In addition to this trial, HMRC is also reminding agents of the following digital services:

• progress chasing – the 'Where's My Reply?' tool tells tax agents when they will get a reply on PAYE and SA returns and correspondence. Whilst HMRC has recently done some work to make this more reliable, it is currently looking to add other taxes and agents will be informed when these are available. Agents can contact the helpline if the expected reply date has passed
• report a phishing email, phone call or scam text
• report a death
• request an SA302 (for mortgage applications)
• clients can get information on their pay and tax and employment histories in their personal tax account. HMRC is working on developing services to allow agents to access this information.

HMRC states that where agents can get the information they need from their client, that’s what they will ask them to do. Furthermore, where there are digital services available (as above), HMRC will expect agents to use them. HMRC won’t be offering phone support for these services, other than when agents need support to get back online.

HMRC has confirmed that it will keep the representative bodies informed about how it performs against the target of 10-minute response times for the relaunched agent dedicated line. ACCA welcomes this development having recently urged HMRC to address poor service levels. ACCA thinks that a lack of resources will prevent HMRC from upholding its Charter commitments.

The latest iteration of the HMRC Charter was published in November 2020. Key points included bolstering its decision appeal system, being responsive to complaints, and providing clear and consistent information.

Practitioners should take note of the above digital services and use these as much as possible.

Any feedback on the service levels on the agent dedicated line can be fed through to our policy section on UKPolicy@accaglobal.com.