Success for LITRG bereavement helpline campaign

HMRC this week announced a new dedicated helpline and address box for people who need to contact them about PAYE and Self Assessment matters relating to bereavement. They have also revised the form R27 which is used to finalise the tax affairs of a deceased person.

Much credit for this news should go to the CIOT’s Low Incomes Tax Reform Group. LITRG has long taken a keen interest in how bereaved taxpayers are dealt with by HMRC and has ben pressing on this area. Along with Tax Help for Older People, in 2009 LITRG researched and published a report entitled Bereavement and the Tax System. The recommendations in that report included revising and simplifying the R27, and setting up a working party with representatives from Government and the voluntary sector to consider proposals such as a bereavement helpline.

More information on the announcement can be found on LITRG’s website.

George Crozier
CIOT External Relations Manager
Wednesday 23 May 2012