Juliet England: Maybe dealing with HMRC doesn’t have to be taxing after all

Sometimes, it’s nice to know you’re not writing into the ether, unnoticed. Such was the case when Limping Chicken put out my recent piece about my struggles with HMRC and communicating with them to sort out a troublesome tax bill. (I’d had to schlep off to my local deaf centre to get them to make a phone call for me because you can’t set up a direct debit on instant messaging and I simply couldn’t face dealing with the taxman (or woman) on the old textphone.)

The article sparked contact from Laura Brown and Sarah Alder, of the Royal Association for Deaf People (RAD).

They explained that in fact there’s actually a fair bit of help on offer for Deaf and hearing impaired people.

RAD is contracted to provide webcam support to Deaf BSL users who can’t communicate with HMRC in any other way. There are also BSL videos and information offering further support on the organisation’s website.

Via the site, people can book a webcam appointment with Sarah Alder, Information Advice and Guidance Officer and HMRC adviser, or contract HMRC direct via an NCRPD-registered BSL interpreter using the charity’s video interpreting service.

Alder tells me over Skype: “Our clients book an appointment online, and we would then either Skype or Facetime them to discuss the issues. These can then be raised with HMRC and I can contact HMRC direct while the client is still on the video call.

“Some clients don’t understand English in a written format, and this would need to be translated into BSL to ensure they understood the relevant tax documents, so a phone call to HMRC isn’t always needed. We can also guide people on completing online forms if a written format needs to be interpreted.”

This can clearly be useful, for example, where people are unable or reluctant to use HMRC’s instant messaging service.

The pilot service with HMRC kicked off back in 2015, and RAD bagged the contract to continue and develop the service in 2016.

Laura Brown, Development and Engagement Manager at RAD, adds: “We were aware that, for those whose first language is BSL, it wasn’t always easy to contact HMRC in the usual way, and that’s why we forged our partnership with HMRC.”

At the same time, of course local CABs and similar advice services can also offer support. (In my case, for example, I was helped by Reading Deaf Centre.) And RAD offers advice services provided in partnership with CABs and others at drop-in centres across the UK.

So, while no system is ever perfect, and many barriers doubtless remain, there are perhaps more options than I’d realised, depending on how you like to communicate. For me, that’s probably instant messaging, which won’t suit everybody.

Finally, Brown suggested perhaps I hadn’t been able to set up a direct debit using IM, which I’d like to have done, because of security issues including hackers and firewalls. Instead, I’d had to get the Deaf Centre worker to do it for me via the phone and it was a tortuous business.

“They’d need an advanced secure system in place such as online banks use and would be unlikely to risk you sharing your information in an IM format.”

Not an unreasonable point. And now I’m just glad to have got them off my case. (HMRC, that is, not Laura and Sarah from RAD.) At least until next January, when the whole thing starts up again.

Read more of Juliet’s articles for us here. Juliet England does freelance social media and PR work for cSeeker.