a day ago
Will HMRC's digital initiatives make customers' lives any easier?
SIR – You report (June 12) that HMRC is to stop sending letters to customers.
A year ago I was encouraged by HMRC to start using its app. I duly downloaded it and tried to log in but was refused access, as I needed to provide proof of identity – specifically a passport number or driving licence.
I am in my eighties, my driving licence has been revoked owing to my poor eyesight, and my passport has expired as I no longer travel abroad. My only valid means of identification is my bus pass, which is not accepted.
The alternative was to contact HMRC by phone. After holding on for an hour, I gave up.
Meanwhile, HMRC continues to tax my pension with impunity.
George Kelly
Buckingham
SIR – My mother has dementia. She has none of the documents required to establish her identity and access HMRC's online systems. I have power of attorney, but am not allowed to use these systems on her behalf, so am forced to spend hours on the phone and send letters that never get a reply.
HMRC has taken more tax than is due for two years. I am told by the telephone operatives that my mother does not need to file a tax return, but that is the only way to get a rebate.
Is HMRC setting out to confuse customers?
Gillian Courage
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
SIR – HMRC is to stop writing to taxpayers, except when demanding payments. It already refuses to speak to many of us on the phone.
It took my wife 10 months to get a reply to a letter she wrote last year; this meant being incorrectly charged interest, which she had to appeal against.
A year earlier, only two figures on the assessment form sent to me were recognisable. A five-minute phone call could have resolved the problem, but this was not possible.
In both cases, we resorted to sending letters higher up the organisation. This did the trick.
E R Dring
Tadworth, Surrey
SIR – Yesterday morning I received an email from HMRC (having opted out of receiving post) telling me that there was a new message in my account. I duly logged in. The message informed me that I would receive a statement – in four days' time. What was the point of this?
Clare Morgan
Alderley Edge, Cheshire
SIR – Following the news that a phishing scam led to the loss of £49 million, a spokesman for HMRC blithely declared: 'Our customers suffered no financial loss.'
This reflects the myopic thinking of the Civil Service. Of course customers suffered a loss: the money cannot now be spent on what it was collected for.
Des Morgan
Swindon, Wiltshire
