Fri, 24 Dec 2010

HMRC debts ‘escalate’ as regional offices close

Employers may increasingly find debt collectors knocking on their doors as a result of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) decision to close 130 regional tax offices, a leading payroll services director has warned.

Helen Harvey of Enable Ltd has reported cases in which underpayment notices were handled inefficiently by centralised HMRC offices, which could have been solved quickly with intervention from a local tax inspector. She has also criticised HMRC call centres for making mistakes.

‘When you ring up, you’re told your call will be escalated and someone will call back, but by then a second notice has already been issued automatically by the computer,’ Harvey said. ‘We’re also finding that when we call to say the client thinks they’ve paid and request a trace on the payment, they’re not putting a stop on the debt being escalated. When they shouldn’t take further action until the trace comes back, they’re carrying on the process.’

In the past, Harvey has used local tax inspectors to check records when underpayment notices continued to be issued, but she said local closures may mean cases become unnecessarily acute.

‘Now we haven’t got that safety net, my concern is matters will get passed to debt collectors,’ she said. An HMRC spokesman dismissed the claim that closures would render the department less efficient.

‘By bringing staff together in larger teams and closing smaller offices, HMRC will be able to deliver a better service to customers while delivering better value for money,’ he said. HMRC announced the regional office closures in
January 2010.