Penny Hamilton explains how TaxAid helps thousands of vunerable people each year – and how you can help them.
TAX JOURNAL CHARITABLE PROMOTION
In the unlikely event that there is a Tax Journal reader who has not heard about TaxAid and Tax Help for Older People, and their joint campaign, ‘Bridge the Gap’, here are some memorable figures. TaxAid is 25 years’ old this year and, with its fellow charity, Tax Help for Older People, has helped over 250,000 grateful clients whose lives have been transformed by that help.
But there may be many who do not know how these charities operate in practice. Here is a brief overview of TaxAid.
Access to TaxAid is via one of two helplines. The first is open to the public on weekdays from 10 to 12 and the second is for VCS (voluntary community services) and is open throughout the day. These helplines are manned by the TaxAid staff and volunteers, either in the office or working from home, operating through a call handling system. Calls are monitored by a helpline manager who can bring in more resources to help if the queue gets too long.
The helpline advisers perform a triage service for clients so that, if it not possible to deal with a problem immediately on the telephone, the client is allocated to a case worker who is either a member of staff or a volunteer. There are 80 volunteers countrywide of whom 20 are in London and 12 are part of a pilot scheme with Deloitte. Most volunteers handle three client appointments once or twice a month, some more. The client can see an adviser at TaxAid’s office or, if that is not convenient, in Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham, thanks to the generosity of Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC, which provide office space and volunteers. If a face to face interview is not possible, TaxAid can work remotely.
TaxAid’s considerable success in resolving problems relies to a large extent on VSTRS (Voluntary Sector Tax Resolution Service), HMRC’s telephone service which deals only with TaxAid, Tax Help for Older People and similar charities. VSTRS has a dedicated team of officers, based in Portsmouth, trained and experienced in dealing with vulnerable taxpayers, who can share information with TaxAid across all taxes, and over multiple years. It was set up to meet the particular needs of very vulnerable taxpayers who, because of literacy or numeracy issues, or poor physical or mental health, cannot articulate their problems a comprehensive, and comprehensible, account of their activities.
If, as is often the case, the client needs to submit a tax return, or make an appeal, TaxAid will do this online, in the name of its voluntary service manager. This centralised approach protects its volunteers from any exposure to risk, ensures consistency of quality and approach and enables TaxAid to track trends. Even if TaxAid becomes involved, however, clients remain responsible for their tax affairs and, once TaxAid has helped resolve the immediate issue, they are guided to manage their future reporting obligations in the future
This is how TaxAid helps 6,500 people a year. These are impressive statistics, but TaxAid wants to reach more vulnerable and frightened people who are desperate for help with their tax affairs. Together with Tax Help for Older People, their sister charity, they launched the Bridge the Gap campaign to enable them to do this. Please help by supporting Bridge the Gap.
Penny Hamilton explains how TaxAid helps thousands of vunerable people each year – and how you can help them.
TAX JOURNAL CHARITABLE PROMOTION
In the unlikely event that there is a Tax Journal reader who has not heard about TaxAid and Tax Help for Older People, and their joint campaign, ‘Bridge the Gap’, here are some memorable figures. TaxAid is 25 years’ old this year and, with its fellow charity, Tax Help for Older People, has helped over 250,000 grateful clients whose lives have been transformed by that help.
But there may be many who do not know how these charities operate in practice. Here is a brief overview of TaxAid.
Access to TaxAid is via one of two helplines. The first is open to the public on weekdays from 10 to 12 and the second is for VCS (voluntary community services) and is open throughout the day. These helplines are manned by the TaxAid staff and volunteers, either in the office or working from home, operating through a call handling system. Calls are monitored by a helpline manager who can bring in more resources to help if the queue gets too long.
The helpline advisers perform a triage service for clients so that, if it not possible to deal with a problem immediately on the telephone, the client is allocated to a case worker who is either a member of staff or a volunteer. There are 80 volunteers countrywide of whom 20 are in London and 12 are part of a pilot scheme with Deloitte. Most volunteers handle three client appointments once or twice a month, some more. The client can see an adviser at TaxAid’s office or, if that is not convenient, in Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham, thanks to the generosity of Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC, which provide office space and volunteers. If a face to face interview is not possible, TaxAid can work remotely.
TaxAid’s considerable success in resolving problems relies to a large extent on VSTRS (Voluntary Sector Tax Resolution Service), HMRC’s telephone service which deals only with TaxAid, Tax Help for Older People and similar charities. VSTRS has a dedicated team of officers, based in Portsmouth, trained and experienced in dealing with vulnerable taxpayers, who can share information with TaxAid across all taxes, and over multiple years. It was set up to meet the particular needs of very vulnerable taxpayers who, because of literacy or numeracy issues, or poor physical or mental health, cannot articulate their problems a comprehensive, and comprehensible, account of their activities.
If, as is often the case, the client needs to submit a tax return, or make an appeal, TaxAid will do this online, in the name of its voluntary service manager. This centralised approach protects its volunteers from any exposure to risk, ensures consistency of quality and approach and enables TaxAid to track trends. Even if TaxAid becomes involved, however, clients remain responsible for their tax affairs and, once TaxAid has helped resolve the immediate issue, they are guided to manage their future reporting obligations in the future
This is how TaxAid helps 6,500 people a year. These are impressive statistics, but TaxAid wants to reach more vulnerable and frightened people who are desperate for help with their tax affairs. Together with Tax Help for Older People, their sister charity, they launched the Bridge the Gap campaign to enable them to do this. Please help by supporting Bridge the Gap.
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