HM Revenue and Customs has been forced into a swift U-turn after an outcry over its plans to close a key helpline for six months a year and scale back other phone services.
Hours after HMRC announced the plans, the head of the tax office said that “following feedback from concerned stakeholders”, the changes to the self-assessment, VAT and PAYE helplines would be halted to allow more discussions to take place.
Orders to abandon the plans for the time being came from the very top of government, with the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, intervening over fears that not all taxpayer needs would be met – a move first reported by the Telegraph.
On Tuesday, HMRC had said that starting from this year, its self-assessment helpline would be shut from early April until 30 September. During the rest of the year, the helpline would have dealt with “priority queries” only.
In addition, the plan was that from April the VAT helpline would open for just five days each month, while the pay as you earn (PAYE) helpline would no longer deal with calls to chase PAYE refunds.
The tax office has been trying to wean people off speaking to a real person on the phone in favour of going online wherever possible.
However, many tax experts, MPs and others said the public was not ready for such a big and permanent switch to “online self-service”. The changes were variously described as “misguided” and “ill-advised”.
Jim Harra, HMRC’s chief executive, said: “We’ve listened to the feedback and we’re halting the helpline changes, as we recognise more needs to be done to ensure all taxpayers’ needs are met, whilst also encouraging them to transition to online services.”
He added that “the pace of this change needs to match the public appetite for managing their tax affairs online”.
The changes to the self-assessment, VAT and PAYE helplines announced by HMRC will now all be halted while it “engages with stakeholders”. This means the phone lines will remain open between April and September.
In response, the Commons Treasury select committee said it was “extremely pleased to see that common sense has prevailed”.
It added: “We welcome the decision to reverse yesterday’s ill-advised announcement. While we do not oppose expansion of digital services for those who want to use them, we remain entirely unconvinced that HMRC is adequately prepared to impose such a significant change in how it serves taxpayers.”
Planned changes to the operation of HMRC’s phone lines had been “mismanaged” from the outset, the committee added.
Treasury minister Nigel Huddleston later told MPs that HMRC’s helpline and webchat advisers “will always be there for those taxpayers who need support”, adding: “I recognise that such reassurances were not sufficiently clearly communicated yesterday.”
The chair of the Treasury select committee, Harriet Baldwin, thanked the minister and the chancellor for “listening to the howl of pain that came from ordinary taxpayers” following Tuesday’s announcement.
