In 2022, His Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) received around 5.5 million calls to its Self Assessment Tax Return Helpline, which can be contacted 0300 200 3310, (or +44 161 931 9070 outside the UK), and is open 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
In the two month period culminating in the the online tax return deadline, around 1.2 million, or 30,000 a day, calls were made asking for tax help. Following research it appears a third of these calls, about 10,000 a day, could be narrowed down to just five common questions.
The top 5 queries were:
- Am I required to complete a tax return?
- How can I complete my tax return?
- How can I check the amount of tax that I need to pay?
- Where is my tax refund from my Self Assessment?
- What happens if I cannot pay the tax owed?
With four out of five individual taxpayers now open to using digital services, HMRC is stating these questions can be answered using a variety of guides and tools in the online services it provides.
Online services provided by HMRC include setting up Time to Pay arrangements in order to spread tax bills for taxpayers facing financial hardship. Taxpayers can also pay their tax bill online, joining the growing amount of people opting to pay via the HMRC tax app.
If you're looking for a fast and private way to estimate your tax bill, particularly if you are completing your self assessment and have maybe more than one source of income, you can use our multiple income tax estimate tool - available within our website as well as our apps.