E-mail the VATman!

The VATman has, at last, agreed to accept e-mails, but only for certain queries. What are the drawbacks and advantages to using this service?

Good Communication. The goverment continues to promote its online services, but until now HM Revenue & Customs has fought off pressure to use e-mail as a means of communication. Part of its reticence is almost certainly the fear that it wouldn’t be able to cope with the number of e-mails simply asking “Where’s my tax refund”. It’s probably right, but the excuse it’s used until now is that there was a security problem.

Addressee only. When HM Revenue & Customs sends a letter it often contains personal or confidential information but as the envelope is addressed to the business owner or individual concerned it can reasonably expect that it will be the addressee who opens it. Similarly, when you phone HM Revenue & Customs it carries out a security check before discussing your tax affairs. By contrast, e-mail addresses are often shared or can, at least, be accessed by others and so HM Revenue & Customs has had to find a way to work around this.

Security. First HM Revenue & Customs has restricted e-mail enquiries to VAT, as these are less likely to contain personal information. Plus, rather than publish a general e-mail address it has a secure online e-mail service which anyone can access via its website. Where you use this service you aren’t guaranteed a response in the same format. The VATman says that where his reply contains confidential information he will write instead.

Advantages. One advantage over a letter is that you’ll have immediate confirmation your communication has been received. Plus, we found the stencil e-mails that VATman provides will help you to construct your question by prompting you for information about your enquiry. However, one drawback is you’re limited to 2,000 characters and there’s no simple way to keep an electronic copy. Tip. Our advice is to use a PDF printer to do this; you can easily find and download one for free from the web.

Source: Indicator Ltd

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