New flooding helpline to give tax assistance

Date: 27th November 2009

Tax issues suffered by Cumbria small businesses affected by recent flooding are to be dealt with via a new helpline.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced today that members of the public can call 0845 3000 157 in order to get assistance and guidance from tax professionals.

This could include making revisions to payment schedules, alerting authorities to records damaged or lost due to the floods and reviewing penalties and surcharges already imposed on deadlines which have been already missed by the firms.

The helpline is open between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday.

Commenting on the service, treasury secretary Stephen Timms said: "We want people to be able to concentrate on recovering from the recent events.

"A quick call to the HMRC helpline will give peace of mind, enabling customers to focus on restoring their homes and businesses."

HMRC's update follows the announcement from Barclaycard earlier this week that it will not charge late payment fees to Cumbria business customers who find themselves unable to make the transactions due to flood-related disruption.

Figures released by the Association of British Insurers suggest that the total cost of the extreme weather conditions could come to £100 milllion.

Posted by Anthony Burns