Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or HMRC is the United Kingdom’s tax, payments, and customs authority. Their main purpose is to collect the money that pays for public services and helps families and individuals with targeted financial support.

HRMC maintains impartiality in its services, ensuring that people get their tax right and don’t cheat the system. HMRC plays an important role in the UK and has a number of responsibilities.

Responsibilities

HMRC replaced the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise in 2005 and reports to Parliament through the Treasury minister that oversees HMRC’s spending. HM Revenue and Customs is responsible for safeguarding the flow of money to the Exchequer through their collection, compliance, and enforcement activities and makes sure that money is available to fund the UK’s public services.

HMRC also aims to administer the tax system in a simple, customer-focused, and efficient way and administers the Government Banking Service.

In addition to this, HMRC also facilitates legitimate international trade, protects the UK’s fiscal, economic, social, and physical security, and collects UK trade statistics. They also administer Statutory Payments and administer Child Benefit. Thus, when an individual gets a law UK to make a complaint on unreasonable delays with their child benefits, they can contact HMRC online, by phone, or in writing.

Objectives

HMRC has three key strategic objectives and these ensure they provide UK citizens with an accurate service that is based on mutual trust and respect. These objectives include the collection of revenues due, bearing down on avoidance and evasion, transforming tax and payments for their customers, and designing and delivering a professional, efficient, engaged organisation.

Taxes and Payments

HMRC plays a vital role in the UK due to its many responsibilities. If an individual has questions on the services of HMRC and the taxes they need to pay, they can speak to HMRC directly or seek legal advice UK from one of the many law firms in London.

The taxes collected by HMRC include income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, insurance premium tax, and stamp, land, and petroleum revenue taxes. They also manage environmental taxes, climate change, aggregates levy, and landfill tax.

Value Added Tax (VAT), including import VAT, customs duty, excise duties, tax credits, and trade statistics also come under the responsibilities of the HMRC. They also take care of national insurance and child benefits.

The enforcement of the National Minimum Wage and the recovery of student loan payments are also part of the services of HMRC.

Contacting HM Revenue and Customs

Given the vital role played by HMRC, it is important that they are contacted as soon as possible when complaining about their services. A solicitor UK may recommend making a complaint about mistakes or unreasonable delays.

One of your options when complaining is doing so online and both individuals and businesses can complain to HMRC online. In order to complain, you must first create a Government Gateway user ID and password.

If you want to complain by phone or post, you will need your National Insurance number, Unique Taxpayer Reference, or VAT number, your full name, address, and phone number, details of what happened and when it happened, as well how you would like your complaint resolved.

While you can have someone else complain on your behalf, you should continue to pay your taxes while your complaint is being dealt with. There may be charges like interest or penalties if you stop or delay payments.

While this process applies to most complaints made to HMRC, a law firm in the UK will instruct you to follow a different process if you disagree with a tax decision or a penalty or wish to complain about serious misconduct by HMRC staff.

If, following the advice of a solicitor UK, you contact HMRC to make a complaint, they will handle your complain fairly and confidentially and investigate the matter thoroughly. They will also give you the name and contact details of the officer handling your complaint and keep you informed about the progress of your complaint.

This efficient and confidential process followed when a complaint is made is important given the responsibilities of HM Revenue and Customs.

Published date - June 2, 2020