Chartered Accountants Ireland has been in correspondence with HMRC to relay customer service issues raised by our members, particularly those in practice in Northern Ireland. Detailed responses have now been received in relation to the handling of telephone queries and correspondence which may be helpful.

The points below were received by Chartered Accountants Ireland in writing from HMRC following correspondence and discussions over a period of months. HMRC comments are reproduced here “as is”.

HMRC Agreed to Share Protocols in Relation to:

1. Call-backs to Agents (to include at what point in the process a call is closed off on HMRC's systems)

HMRC Response:

Self-Assessment/PAYE:

Calls to the Agent Dedicated Line (ADL) are handled by Tier 1 advisers with a minimum of 12 months experience in HMRC's Contact Centres giving callers access to expertise and improved quality and consistency of response. Calls made to the ADL number are given priority, giving agents a speedier rate of response equating to a reduction in customer time and cost of contacting HMRC.

When the technician attempts to call the agent back within 24 hours and either they get through to a voicemail or the specific agent is not available they will leave a message telling them they will call them back a second time. If the agent is not available on the second call back they will tell them to call back on the ADL.

Call stats for 2012/2013
Calls handled	1,244,662
IVR (see below)	77,163
Escalated to Tier	244,911 (via a handover)
Escalated to Tier	32,549(via a handover)
Calls attempts	1,384,516

Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) is the name given to HMRC's collection of audio options and informational messages played on each of their helplines. The stats refer to the number of callers who we assume obtain an answer to their queries by listening to these options and closing the call.

Corporation Tax: Telephone enquiries about Corporation Tax Affairs

The new CT Helpline telephone number is 0845 366 7819 or if you are calling from abroad +44 151 268 0571.

The opening hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

The CT Helpline was introduced in September 2012 with all calls previously handled by CT Operations being transferred by mid November 2012. Teams of advisers, based in Cardiff and Glasgow, deal with around 80% of the enquiries at first point of contact using comprehensive guidance prepared by the CT Operations.

If a customer query can't be resolved by the advisor it is referred to a technical specialist in CT Operations who will handle this. If a call back was requested the technical team will contact the caller with 3 working days to answer the enquiry.

There is an IVR system in place which will also give information to callers and redirect those that are not telephoning about CT.

If a caller needs a specialist team, for example for Research and Development Companies, the contact telephone numbers have not changed. Although the CT Helpline operators may be able to give general information such companies should continue to use the numbers previously available for the CT R&D specialist units.

Agents can also use the office locator tool on the HMRC website to check which office to send correspondence to by post or by fax HMRC Contact us.

Call backs for CT depend on the circumstances of the call, if the caller requests a call back we will make one. We don't call back if the request is to take some action for instance deal with a repayment. If we need additional information we will usually make a call, again it is on a case by case basis.

The call ends either when they have satisfied the caller with the information they have supplied or they have referred it to our Tier 2 team i.e. we have actioned what is required by

• processing what is required without the need for a call back or
• calling the customer back and satisfying their query by taking action or providing information.

We make 3 attempts to contact the caller and if not successful on the third attempt we leave a message saying HMRC has called and asking them to contact the Helpline again if required.

The two helplines have different protocols as the ADL has been set up specifically for agents while the CT helpline is available to all customers.

(b) Converting a phone enquiry into a request for a written enquiry

HMRC response:

Self-Assessment/PAYE:

Agents working with HMRC in the Post Working group have identified a set of headings which agents should use when submitting Self-Assessment & PAYE post to HMRC.

We cannot accept certain information which falls outside our business by telephone (BBT) guidelines and some information you must provide in writing. The BBT guidelines mirror the Department's statement of practice.

Corporation Tax:

This helpline was set up late last year and there is not yet an equivalent BBT guide. Work is underway to produce a list of categories to clarify the areas where written correspondence is required. HMRC aim to publish these details as soon as possible. Will be communicated via next appropriate edition of Agent Update.

(c) The escalation to involvement of a senior technical manager – covering the process for escalating both written and phone enquiries

HMRC response:

Self-Assessment/PAYE:

Callers have a structured escalation route from the Tier 1 advisers through to Tier 2 technicians including a warm hand-over guarantee during main business hours and any necessary call backs within 24 hours.

The Tier 2 Technicians also have access to Tier 3 technical inspectors who provide more advanced technical advice in real time. The top 3 call types escalated to Tier 3 are Capital Gains, Self Employed & Partnership enquiries.

A warm handover is when an adviser transfers an agent to another HMRC operative/department. The adviser will tell the HMRC operative the agent's details and what they are calling about, and then they will transfer them over. A cold hand over is where an adviser transfers a customer straight through without speaking to the HMRC operative and giving the background of the caller.

If a Tier 2 has a call which is appropriate to Tier 3, they will attempt a warm handover. If there is no Tier 3 available at the time of the call, it will be recorded as a call-back to the agent or customer. Tier 3 will call back within 24 hours for ADL cases and 3 days for non-ADL.

If the Tier 2 technician cannot resolve the query, than the call is transferred using the warm handover process to the Tier 3 inspector, if the Tier 3 inspector is unavailable to take the call than they will call the agent back when they are free.

There is a separate process for dealing with post. For SA & PAYE written enquires agent should send correspondence to one of the two PO Box addresses. At the correspondence offices, items are identified at point of receipt and routed to whichever technical officer is appropriate based on the complexity of the correspondence. The WT Post Working Group has produced a set of post headings to assist in this escalation process.

Corporation Tax:

If a customer query can't be resolved by the advisor it is referred to a technical specialist in CT Operations who will handle this. There is no warm handover; referrals to a technical specialist in CT Operations are done using a standard form via e-mail.

There is no Tier 2/Tier 3 structure for the CT helpline. A referral is sent on a standard form via e-mail from the CT helpline to a technical specialist in CT Operations.

For CT enquiries Agents should send correspondence to the appropriate CT office.

Quoted Hmrc Comment Ends

Our correspondence with HRMC on service issues is ongoing, and we hope to publish some more material on the area in due course. Chartered Accountants Ireland acknowledges the assistance of the HMRC officers concerned in compiling these responses.