Have you ever been on hold to HMRC for six months? That could happen if you call HMRC between 8th April and 30th September. They are permanently closing their self-assessment helpline between these dates each year. I’ve been in tax (just) long enough to remember HMRC having local offices and taxpayers being able to have face-to-face meetings with tax inspectors. Now, you can’t even call them.

This will cause more taxpayers to use tax advisors for what are often simply queries. This increases costs to taxpayers. If they can’t or don’t want to pay for the advice and can’t call HMRC, they are more likely to get it wrong, potentially leading to penalties and interest.

This is part of a long running tradition of HMRC doing less and offloading their work and ultimately costs to taxpayers.

*EDIT – HMRC have now halted the changes – see comments. What business doesn’t love some uncertainty?!