DMBM510120 - Customer contact and data security: introduction: when is it necessary?
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Personal contact is necessary with external customers, other HMRC offices or other Government Departments in Debt Management in order for us to resolve issues, chase debt and returns and bring money into HMRC.
External customers - on the phone
Normally, personal contact is made to obtain payment or returns in cases where there has been no satisfactory response to written correspondence.
You may need to contact customers to:
- request payment of unpaid amounts including
- duties, penalties, interests and costs
- current year Self Assessment (SA), Corporation Tax (COTAX),Pay As You Earn (PAYE), National Insurance Contributions (NIC) and Value Added Tax (VAT).
- obtain SA, COTAX, VAT or PAYE returns
- resolve queries related to a PAYE return referred to you by the Employers Section
- obtain general information about a customer related to the collection and assessment of duty including confirmation of residence and personal details.
External customers - outdoor calls
If you have failed to obtain payment/returns with the customer through written correspondence and/or telephone contact or failed to make contact with the customer at all you will then need to refer the case for a Field Force/Distraint visit. This will involve an officer of Revenue and Customers visiting the customers home or business address to collect
- payment
- set up Time To Pay (TTP)
- or levy.
Internal customers
You may need to telephone or visit other HMRC offices or Government Departments for assistance or information. They may contact you for the same reasons.
It is important that these contacts are handled in a spirit of goodwill and co-operation. Efficient liaison between offices helps everyone do a better job.
HMRC have a legal duty to protect the confidentiality of customer information which we hold. We therefore need to be sure that when a person makes a telephone call to the Department, they are who they claim to be.
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