"HMRC bosses must be trying their hardest to get sacked

No private body would ever get away with such incompetence – radical change is needed"

Telegraph: 19th March 2024: Ben Wilkinson (Telegraph's Head of Money) slams HMRC for its latest move 

Britain is being taxed like never before. The deep freeze on tax thresholds means millions more of us are paying income tax at 40p and 45p and a record number of pensioners are now being stung with bills on their retirement income...

But perhaps the ultimate insult to the British people is just how dreadful the tax collection service has become in recent years...In a move that beggars belief, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced that it will shut its self-assessment phone lines for six months from April to September every year. The taxman has truly given up the pretence of providing a service...

The latest figures show that nearly one million calls went unanswered in January ahead of the self-assessment deadline...Closing the helpline will undoubtedly make it harder for taxpayers to follow the rules and more will be stung with automatic fines...

It is said that it is virtually impossible to get sacked in the civil service, but I’d say the bosses at HMRC are trying their very hardest. No private company would ever get away with such incompetence... It’s time to tear it up and start again. We need a tax system that is simple and effective, and a tax body capable of serving us...

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

[Newsdesk update: Following a huge outcry, just 24 hours later, Jeremy Hunt ordered HMRC to have a rethink. The tax office has now confirmed that the phone lines will not be closed. READ HERE]