The VAT registration has now been closed by HMRC to help shorten application processing times.
According to HMRC, 85% of phone calls to the service came from customers checking the progress of their VAT registration. The tax authority believes that its staff's time would be "better used" processing applications.
Following successfully trialling phoneline closures last year, HMRC is confident that closing this move will significantly reduce application processing times.
The general VAT helpline will remain open for other VAT enquiries. Traders seeking updates about an application submitted more than 40 working days ago should email HMRC's dedicated VAT registrations email inbox. For applications younger than 40 working days, traders should use HMRC's ‘where's my reply' tool.
In an email to businesses, HMRC said:
"We're committed to being responsive to our customer needs as part of our HMRC charter standards, and we're keen to make sure our business model represents the best possible value for money for the taxpayer. "
HMRC will keep the decision to close the VAT registration helpline under review.
Taxpayers pushed towards online services
The decision to close the VAT registration helpline seems to be part of the Government's broader push to get taxpayers to find solutions to their problems themselves.
In recent weeks, callers have criticised HMRC's phone lines, with some taxpayers waiting 30 minutes to speak to a representative; others. Other callers have also reported being cut off entirely while on hold.
In response to an open letter from leading professional accounting bodies in March, Financial Secretary Victoria Atkins said HMRC was "sorry to those who have been affected":
"HMRC is currently responding to around three-quarters of correspondence within 15 working days and successfully answering about 70,000 calls a day. Their customer satisfaction is consistently around 80%."
However, she also claimed:
"The key to reducing waiting times for customers and improving customer satisfaction even further is offering an easy and simple online service - one where it is much easier to go digital than to telephone or write to HMRC.
Between now and 2030, HMRC plans to build a "digital tax system" that "helps customers get their tax and payments right the first time, reduces error and fraud and fits seamlessly with the way people run their businesses and their lives."
Leaders' letter hopes for investment
The letter to the Treasury was first delivered weeks before the Spring Budget in March 2023. Signed by 10 of the leading professional accounting bodies in the UK, the signatories urged Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to prioritise investment in HMRC's services.
They said:
"In your Autumn Statement, you rightly said that ‘a strong economy depends on strong public services'. This is nowhere more evident than in the services provided by HMRC, but despite its critical role in funding the public sector, customer service levels delivered by HMRC have fallen to an unacceptably low level.
"This has significant ramifications for taxpayers, business owners and their agents who are trying to comply with their tax obligations but need to be able to interact with the tax authority in a timely and efficient way."
Talk to us about your VAT registration.