HMRC not answering phones, 3rd day and cannot get through to speak on their help line

I've tried all morning to speak with someone using the SA Helpline, but after providing all my details, I'm told that everyone's busy and the call is terminated. The disclaimer at the beginning states that HMRC are here to help! Why is there no queue or call-back service?

Hi HMRC Team, I've been trying to get through on the phone for over a week but no luck as the call gets disconnect after waiting for an hour or so. I have emailed also, but sadly no response from the team. I need to discuss my case, I have moved to UK in October 2021, and i have received a penalty notice for FY2020-2021 from my parent organisation. I am not supposed to pay the tax or penalty for the year I was not in UK. My parent organisation is regularly paying tax and is deducted from salary every month. As the self-assessment penalty i received pertains to year FY2020-2021, believe there is a miss. Just want to discuss my case, Please advise how to move forward given it is proving impossible to reach HMRC. Thanks!

Hi can anybody help me with this one I waiting for a repayment but keep seeing not yet used what does it mean

Hi,

The contact methods for Income Tax are listed here.

Income Tax: general enquiries

Thank you.

cannot get through to hmrc!

Hi 

If you are unsure why we have asked you to complete a Self Assessment tax return you will need to speak to the helpline. 
The helpline advisor can review your Self Assessment account. 
Please see the helpline opening times here: 

Self Assessment: general enquiries

Thank you. 

Hi Sunday123,

You will need to keep trying our helpline so that we can review this for you.

Thank you. 

I'm writing here so I can reply from some admin hopefully. I have an ongoing tax issue that started over 2 years ago... I had a company car in a previous job (now 3 jobs ago) and my company submitted a P11D incorrectly and since I've had the wrong tax codes and paid a stupid amount in tax against a car I don't have. I paid about 10K in tax last year for reference. The year before I paid 3 on about the same earnings.. I have been on calls with HMRC about 15-20 times now. It took about 5 attempts till someone explained to me what the issue was. This service is so slow and very frustrating to deal with. I have sent documentation 4 times now. And only on this last attempt has it actually been received. Other times I have called after waiting 2 weeks, then again 4 weeks, To be told that the HMRC hasn't received it, and my only option is to send again and phone in 30 days.... I have been speaking through a tax consultant and they are allowed to send documents electronically, so why is this not an option for the public? Several times I have been on the phone explaining a document that I can send in an email, to be told that the HMRC doesn't accept email... Even though you have an email address you quote on the automated call to send "phishing emails" for security. My current situation is that my employer had submitted an incorrect P11D for the 21/22 tax year. This should be void and we have sent a blank P11D to cover this. But anytime I eventually speak to someone, I am told over and over again to resend this form. I'm stuck in this state where I can't provide any other forms because they don't exist, and the HMRC will not accept the claim, or let me speak to anyone with any authority to look at it. I have been hung up on several times. I have been promised call backs from managers that have never called me back. I have wasted hours of my own time and the staffs, for essentially two forms and letter from my accountant that explains the tax situation. This should take 20 minutes to look at and approve. But I cannot get to speak to anyone that understands what I'm actually trying to ask for. And then I'm either transferred to someone else who conveniently can't hear me on the other line, and eventually just hang up. This service is abysmal. When you actually get through to someone, about 1 in 5 people can actually be bothered to help you. I spent an hour on the phone yesterday to be transferred to someone else, who couldn't hear me then was hung up on. I called again today at 9am, to wait 40 mins, for someone to answer, then immediately hung up on me. When I called straight back, the line was too busy and not taking any more calls. I can see admins are replying to people on here. I want someone to contact me and get this resolved. I have been overpaying for a company car for 2 years when I only the car for about 4 months. I am already getting a refund of £2421 for 20/21 tax year, but I cannot get the refund for 21/22 because of this issue with the 21/22 P11D. This refund will be more than 21/22 so can you understand why it's pretty frustrating.... How can I get this resolved? And please don't suggest just calling again. If there's admins available to reply to messages on here then you have time to reach out and contact me to resolve this case. I'm fortunate I don't have any dependents but I've been getting a huge chunk of my wages taken each month, and had zero help, or support from the HMRC during this time. I'm due something back like 7K in total so it's not like this is a small amount... Please can someone from the HMRC just contact and get this resolved. It is 1 form and would take max 30 minutes to confirm. I've been very patient with this but this is ridiculous. Initially when the HMRC first noticed a suspected underpayment in October 21. They took more than half my wages in one months pay, with no warning. Had I had kids and mortgage that could have left me in very bleak situation. Since then I have had a different tax code every single month. Ranging from a taxable allowance as low as £5000, meaning I start paying tax at 5K as opposed to the standard 12750. Again this is not affecting so much but you can understand how incredibly stressful this has been, and I'm pretty disgusted with the total lack of support from the HRMC. Hopefully if you got this far then you can understand my desperation and hopefully someone from the HMRC that can help will see this.

It’s an absolute shambles I’ve tried in vain even on this forum you can’t get any response from HMRC they just are happy to keep adding penalties and interest to an outstanding tax bill

Still cant get through to the tax office ,been trying for a couple of weeks . I need to change the phone number my access code is sent to to get into the Gateway to do my self assessment . No code no self assessment ??

Hanging on the phone today as I need a statement of my account showing payments in and out, which, despite what the website suggests, does not appear to be abvailable online. After 1hr 5minutes, of waiting to speak to someone, the repetetive message changed to "we are having difficulties and will only be able to answer general questions", then at 1hr 25 minutes, changed to we having a technical problem and will not be able to take your call. Yet they expect you to comply with all deadlines. The chatbot couldn't help, which is why I was on the phone. If Amazon can manage customer service extremely effectively, why is it beyond the capability of HMRC?

I am due to retire early next month and just want to pay voluntary NI contributions for the 2022/23 Tax Year so I can get a full state pension. The DWP told me they couldn't give me a figure for the amount as it wasn't clear if the Chancellor would increase the contribution needed for the tax year just gone. However, I simply cannot get through to you, and have spent pounds and pounds waiting in the queue only to be cut off. I sent a letter some weeks ago requesting how much and how to pay without response. Having already voluntarily contributed some 6 previous years due to contracting out early on in my career, can I use the same reference number and pay into your Bank account? I am still unsure of how much extra I need and time is running out!

I am now on my 5th call in the last 4 weeks. Each previous call I have waited for over an hour without getting through. It's absolutely diabolical. They simply don't care about people and, clearly have given up caring about our perception of them. A terribly sad and sorry state of affairs.

Hi! I am trying to register for self-assessment and get my UTR number but got rejected because the address provided does not match the records. I checked on my Personal Account Tax page, and the address is correct. The only thing I can think of is my previous address was in Spain, as I've lived there all my life and recently moved to the UK. But I am a UK citizen and I now live in London. I need to sort this out to carry out my freelancing business. What should I do? My accountant cannot call you because she can't sign up as my accountant (she told me she needs my UTR number to do this). I've been waiting for 45' for someone to answer my call.

Hi Scott Barrie,

We can not take action regarding your record from this forum as we can not access your record. If you are unhappy with the service that has been provided you can make a complaint using the below link.

Complain about HMRC

Thank you.

Hi Julia,

I apologise if you are unable to get through. If your estimated income for the employment is updated on the Personal Tax Account and this is not generating a new tax code, you will need to keep trying to get through.

Thank you.

Hi Vanessa B,

I am sorry to hear that you have been unable to speak to one of our advisors, our lines are extremely busy at present.  
I can confirm that the weekly amount of voluntary class 3 National Insurance contributions is £15.85 (total for the whole year is £824.20).
The time limit for making a payment for the 2022-2023 tax year is 5 April 2025 at that rate, and 5 April 2029 at an increased rate.
Without checking your personal records I am unable to confirm how much the shortfall for that year would be for you.
If you have been employed, self-employed or claiming benefits during the 2022-2023 tax year, you may have received some credits or earnings that may contribute towards that tax year, and this would affect how many weeks you are short by.
You need to confirm with DWP whether paying voluntary National Insurance contributions for the 2022-2023 tax year will increase your pension.
You can contact them on 0800 731 0175, lines are open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
Further information on paying voluntary National Insurance contributions can be found here - Pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance
You can use the same reference that you used to make previous payments for voluntary National Insurance contributions to HMRC, however, you must not send any payments to HMRC before checking with DWP that making a payment will increase your pension.
You can also make a payment by cheque, further information on how to do this can be found here - Pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance
With regards to your letter, I can confirm that the area who would process your request are currently working on post dated 16 September 2022.
Your letter will be in a queue waiting to be processed, and it may take a while for a reply to be issued.
You may wish to try calling our contact centre again when lines are less busy.

Thank you.


 

Hi, I can't login to the HMRC website to complete online Self Assessment and pay the tax for the 21/22 year. The website doesn't recognize my passport. I have been trying to contact the HMRC services since December 2022. One time I had a reply , but this reply essentially was simply informing me that I would not get any support: "We cannot tell you which option you are failing and why". I ended up having to pay a penalty. I paid that penalty by online bank transfer and want to check if the payment has been received by your services. Since then I have been trying tens of times to contact support, but I could never get someone on the other end of the phone, even after spending several minutes giving personal details about the issue to the robot voice, the call inevitably ended with "Thank you for your call, goodbye". Not even putting me on a hotline. The robot voice told me to use the online chat, the online chat told me to check the online account, which I cannot access because it doesn't recognize my passport. Therefore, I am stuck. What am I supposed to do to complete my self assessment and make sure taxes are paid? Is it possible to book a face to fact appointment in the closest HMRC office? Otherwise, I will send in paper form the self assessment for 21/22 and 22/23. I have no other choice as there doesn't appear to be any way to get anyone to talk to me. 

Hi Kevin Adamson,

If you are unable to change the number the access code goes to you will need to speak with our Online Services team:

Technical support with HMRC online services

Thank you.

Hi Enya Murphy,

If your registration is being rejected online and you are having issues getting though, you can complete print and post forms to send to us.

Register for Self Assessment

Thank you.