HMRC switches staff from phones to post

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HMRC is reallocating staff who work on its VAT and Corporation Tax phone lines so they can focus on clearing a backlog of post.

The decision was revealed in a letter from HMRC chief executive Jim Harra to accountancy bodies and follows a successful pilot in December.

“Over the course of the pandemic, HMRC made choices about the work we prioritised… We prioritised the COVID support schemes, the UK’s smooth transition from the European Union and the essential services that keep the tax system running,’ said Harra.

During December, HMRC ran a ‘test and learn’ exercise on the Corporation Tax (CT) and VAT helplines (except bereavement) to assess the impact of telephony closure across three Fridays and used the time to focus on its post backlogs in these lines.  

HMRC was able to clear more than 4,000 additional pieces of post each day during the test and learn as staff were allowed to focus solely on postal queries.

“We saw an increased productivity rate among colleagues, above our initial planning assumptions, who were able to focus on the task without stopping midway through to take a phone call,” said Harra.  

There were 2,500 extra calls over the following three Mondays, which Harra said allowed HMRC “to offer an acceptable level of service to these customers despite the additional demand.” 

HMRC has therefore decided to close the CT and VAT telephony lines on Fridays in February and March 2022: 

  • CT – 25 February to 25 March 2022 
  • VAT (excluding bereavement) – 25 February to 25 March 2022 (excluding 4 March) 

“We’ve selected these dates to avoid key events on these lines, including the VAT peak. This will allow us to maintain our customer service levels throughout the rest of the week,” said Harra.

David Nunn is a former Content Manager at AAT.

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