Don’t call us, says HMRC, go online

HMRC wants to discourage taxpayers from using its telephone helplines suggesting they check online instead.

Last year HMRC’s self-assessment helpline received more than 5.5 million calls with 1.2 million in the eight weeks leading up to the 31 January deadline. According to HMRC about a third of these calls were routine or simple enquiries that could have been checked online.

The most common questions were:

• Do I need to fill in a tax return?
• How do I fill in my online tax return?
• How do I check how much tax I owe?
• Where’s my self-assessment tax refund?
• What happens if I can’t pay my tax bill?

Myrtle Lloyd HMRC’s director general for customer services said: ‘There is no need to spend time waiting to speak to us.’ She said that using the department’s online services for simple queries about a tax return is...