Making the taxpayers’ Charter work
'Your Charter' is important to HMRC and its customers:
• It provides a clear framework for how HMRC staff are expected to act and to deliver services for customers;
• It sets out what customers can expect from HMRC as well as the obligations they are expected to meet.
In January 2016, HMRC refreshed Your Charter, and in February 2016, the Charter Committee was inaugurated as a sub-committee of the HMRC Board.
HMRC set out its assessment of how it has performed against its Charter commitments in the HMRC annual report and accounts: 2016 to 2017. This report is the Charter Committee’s own assessment of HMRC’s progress against its commitments and in supporting customers to meet their obligations.
Taxpayers’ rights – what we can expect from HMRC - these are their statements to you as taxpayers
1.1 Respect you and treat you as honest
• We’ll treat you even-handedly, with courtesy and respect. We’ll listen to your concerns and answer your questions clearly. We’ll presume that you’re telling us the truth, unless we have good reason to think otherwise.
1.2 Provide a helpful, efficient and effective service
• We’ll help you understand what you have to do and when you have to do it. We’ll deal with the information you give us quickly, efficiently, and keep any costs to you at a minimum. We’ll put any mistakes right as soon as we can.
1.3 Be professional and act with integrity
• We’ll act within the law and make sure that you are dealt with by people who have the right level of expertise. We’ll help you to understand your rights and we’ll be sensitive to any financial difficulties you might have.
1.4 Protect your information and respect your privacy
• We’ll protect information we obtain, receive or hold about you and only share information about you when the law lets us. We’ll explain why we need any additional information.
1.5 Accept that someone else can represent you
• We’ll respect your wish to have someone else deal with us on your behalf, such as an accountant or a relative. To protect your privacy, we’ll only deal with them if they have been authorised to represent you, and we’ll deal with them courteously and professionally.
1.6 Deal with complaints quickly and fairly
• We’ll deal with your complaints or appeals as quickly as we can. You can also ask someone else to look into an issue on your behalf. If we can’t resolve matters between us, you can ask us to work with someone who’s not been involved in your dispute.
1.7 Tackle those who bend or break the rules
• We’ll identify those who are not paying what they owe or are claiming more than they should and recover the money. We’ll charge interest and penalties where appropriate and be reasonable in how we use our powers.
Taxpayers’ obligations – what HMRC expect from taxpayers
2.1 Be honest and respect our staff
• Please be truthful and act within the law. Give us all the relevant facts and information about your taxes, entitlements, and any additional information we ask you for. Treat our staff with the respect that you would expect from us.
2.2 Work with us to get things right
• Please work with us to make sure that your tax and payment affairs are right and that you’re paying and claiming the correct amount of money. Talk to us if there is anything you’re not sure about.
2.3 Find out what you need to do and keep us informed
• Please make sure that you know how to pay your tax and claim payments and get in touch with us as soon as possible if you need help. Tell us straight away if you’re having trouble meeting your obligations.
2.4 Keep accurate records and protect your information
• Please make sure that you, or your representative, keep accurate financial records that support what you tell us. Do not share confidential information with others and tell us straight away if you think someone else knows your identification details, such as passwords.
2.5 Know what your representative does on your behalf
• Please make sure that you know what information and payments your representative sends us. Make sure that the information and payments are accurate and on time.
2.6 Respond in good time
• Please send us returns and pay any amounts you owe on time and pay any interest on late payments or penalties promptly.
2.7 Take reasonable care to avoid mistakes
• Please take care to avoid mistakes when you send us information, pay your taxes and claim any payments or reliefs.
Call for evidence
From your perspective, are HMRC living up to the aims of the Charter? The Charter Committee are looking for evidence, both positive and negative.
They are particularly interested in evidence relating to HMRC obligation 1.2 “Provide a helpful, efficient and effective service” where they say that they will ‘deal with the information you give us quickly, efficiently, and keep any costs to you at a minimum as soon as we can. and put any mistakes right.
Contact us
If you have any further questions about yor rights with HMRC contact us today by completing the form on our website.
Alternatively you can call us on 020 8977 0905 (Hampton Wick Office) or 01932 855644 (Weybridge Office) to speak to an adviser.
