Contact Center

HMRC contact centre opening times have been realigned to allow more staff to answer calls during the busy periods.

Having carried out consultation on the matter, HMRC have decided to no longer open contact centres on Sundays in order to redeploy staff to the peak periods throughout the rest of the week.

The objective is to drive down waiting times and provide a more effective service for all. For the vast majority of their telephone lines, the opening hours will be Mon - Fri 8am - 8pm and Saturday 8am - 4pm.

Central Agent Authorisation Team: Update on Turnaround Times for Paper Forms

HMRC have redeployed resources to ‘higher priority’ work and this is expected to result in longer turnaround times for paper forms handled by the Central Agent Authorisation Team.

Details of the estimated turnaround times with effect from 1 November 2010 and an indication of the turnaround times HMRC is aiming to achieve by 31 December 2010 are available here.

HMRC have announced that, based on their analysis, turnaround times for requests for agent authorisation, Self Assessment registration and Self-employment registration are beginning to improve.

Working in partnership with agent representatives from the Working Together Steering Group, HMRC has also compiled a list of ‘top tips’ to ensure paper forms are processed as quickly as possible. The ‘top tips’ are available at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/top-tips.htm