HMRC faces criticism as only 48% of individuals and 57% of SMEs believe that the tax authority has the right systems in place to prevent taxpayers from making errors on their tax returns which results in unnecessary investigations
A survey from HMRC reveals that only a third of individuals would describe HMRC as fair and efficient, with people concerned over whether HMRC would treat them fairly if they were to be investigated over errors in their tax return.
Each year taxpayers make honest mistakes on their tax returns which leads to HMRC conducting thousands of investigations.
PfP, tax investigation insurance providers, believe that HMRC can avoid this problem by giving taxpayers more advice on tax returns over the phone.
However, HMRC’s survey shows that 43% of individuals and 45% of SMEs had a good experience of HMRC’s telephone headlines.
Kevin Igoe, managing director of PfP said: ‘For an individual or SME, making a mistake on their tax return can be devastating, by triggering a lengthy and expensive tax investigation. Filling out tax returns is complex, and it is easy to see how an untrained lay person might innocently leave out some information, or forget to declare a source of income.
‘It is important that HMRC has systems in place to help taxpayers get their returns right first time. This could be something as straightforward as providing more helpful advice over the telephone. Unfortunately, very few of the people who had used the helpline described the experience as positive. It is an area where more money should be invested.’
