The Civil Service getting it very right.

[flecc]

We don't seem to get many opportunities to praise the Civil Service in their difficult jobs, but here's an exception.

I'd been finding it impossible to get access to messages from HMRC to me, despite their incredibly secure multi-layer logging in procedures, so I used a contact link to relay the problem

At 3.38pm yesterday I received a courteous email saying that they were aware that there were some problems in that area that they were working on, but providing a link that should show links to messages I could use after I'd logged in. In fact the link diverted me into the impasse page I'd been experiencing, so still no access to messages.

So at 2.19pm after seeing that email and trying the suggestion, I replied to the same person that the problem remained.

At 2.48pm, 29 minutes later I received the response from him with a link to a path I'm not normally entitled to use. Logging in on that gave me instant access to Messages.

So despite their known website difficulties, with rapid attention via two emails the Civil Servant used his head and knowledge of their system to promptly satisfy this customer with a solution meanwhile.
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[Gubbins]

I have had a few dealings with HMRC via telephone and have found them to be helpful, understanding and willing to excersize common sense to sort the problem. One such occasion was a small pension I have of £45 per year with tax code BR which was misread as £45,000 per year.. yep! Panic stations! But a short telephone conversation soon sorted it out.
It's easy to forget that these people are just the same as us and are probably doing their best under difficult circumstances. We often hear about the bad from HMRC but even the daily mail doesn't report them for doing their jobs right..

 

[tillson]

Over the years, HMRC have given me some great tips which have saved me a considerable sum of money in tax. If you are honest with them, I generally find them to be on side over most issues.

 

[Zlatan]

I often consult with HMRC, they have a specific help line for probate / IHT. They are more helpful and informed than solicitors on probate matters. Its been my experience solicitors do not keep up with changing legislation and hence give poor advice , especially with regard to transferring allowances . Go straight to horses mouth and deal with HMRC...They are unbelievably helpful.
I,ve always found them to be just as keen to ensure you do not pay too much tax as too little. They are straight and fair. Pay what's expected. No more. ( Which wasn't case with solicitors, they couldn't care less how much tax you pay,just size of their bill...which at £326 per hour plus vat...soon adds up..)

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Another one for HMRC. When I did my post graduate degree a few years ago, I took out a student loan. After that repayments were being taken when I did my tax return, but didn't appear on my loan statement. At first HMRC said it was a problem at the Student loan company, but they said it was HMRC, so I was left with a problem that I couldn't resolve. I then rang up HMRC and explained this to the guy, who immediately understood my predicament, so he volunteered to investigate and report back the next day. I told him that I was a schoolteacher and couldn't be contacted at work. He then asked what time I set off for work. After I told him that I set off at 8:00, he said he would ring me at 7:50, which he did along with an explanation of what had gone wrong and he'd sorted it all out.

 

[flecc]

It's good to see all the positives above about the HMRC. Years ago I always found the old Inland Revenue to be one of the best government departments to deal with, to the extent that I was once moved to write to them and say so.

I feared that the integration with HM Customs whose public reputation was not too good might change the culture for the worse, but it seems from this sample that has not been the case.
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[Deleted member 4366]

I did have one bad experience in 2001 with HMRC, when I handed in my tax return directly to the office in Bristol along with a cheque pinned to it, only I forgot to sign the return document. The guy was very helpful. He sent it back with a covering letter saying that he had kept the cheque and would deal with it as soon as I returned the signed document, and I wouldn't be fined for being late.

I was working away from home and only went home at weekends, so there was a week before I returned it. A month before, I had changed jobs and the associated tax office moved to Taunton. During that week, they transferred my tax file, so when the returned document was delivered to Bristol, it fell into no-mans land for a while before eventually being transferred to Taunton without the cheque.

After a few weeks, I got a statement from the tax office. I didn't realise that it was a statement of what I needed to pay because I had already paid. A month later, I got a fine and a demand for the money, so I rang up Bristol, but they couldn't help because my file had been transferred. That's when I heard about the transfer to Taunton. I then rang Taunton and got the most officious dragon you could believe. When I told her what had happened, she accused me of lying. I said to her, "Can't you see the pin-holes where the cheque was pinned" to which she replied, "That's a good trick. I've not seen that one before". I went through every appeal process, and I kept telling them to ring the guy at Bristol, who had my cheque, but they said they didn't need to because he wouldn't have kept it. Finally, after a year, I got my fines refunded. It probably would have been a lot quicker and easier if I had kept the covering let from the guy in Bristol, but I chucked it because I though everything would be OK when I sent him back the document.

 

[DynatechFan]

with folks on HMRC, not sure how they manage to be good but they have been mostly really good with me over many years of interactions (touch wood!). My biggest headaches recently have tended to come from Companies House now (now we have swapped business banking away from HSBC, who were quite amazingly, unbelievably rubbish)