New tax phone line proves popular with agents

Date: 5th November 2008

HM Revenue and Customs' new Agents Dedicated Lines (ADLs) have proven very popular in the first three months of their operation.

According to HMRC, more than 170,000 calls have been made to the service, which allows agents to get tax advice about issues affecting their clients.

Should an agent present a problem that cannot be dealt with immediately then their query will be passed on to a "specialist within HMRC".

Brian Redford, head of HMRC's Agents and Employers Service Improvement Programme, asserted that agents had been provided with the service because so many of them had professed a need for dedicated advisory telephone lines.

He said: "These dedicated numbers will help us improve the service we offer and we've already had positive feedback from agents who have used the lines."

The ADLs were developed with Working Together, which is a partnership between the UK's main representative bodies for agents and HMRC.

HMRC made the last of the lines active on Thursday, October 30th.