CJT-80 wrote on Feb 22^nd, 2011 at 3:24pm:

Thanks. I've removed those duplicates. 

Hi,
I am looking for an alternative no. of HMRC, HM Inspector of Taxes, Central London Area. I got a letter from that office on which contact no. is  02076674200 but I think that no. is not working. I spent about 2-3 hours to give a call on that number.

So, can somebody provide a free or landline number please?

Thanking you,

Regards,
Dip


.saffy wrote on Feb 7^th, 2011 at 2:13pm:

020 7667 4200 is indeed the published number for the Corporation Tax Office Central London

Opening hours are 8.30 - 5.00 Monday to Friday. There is no non-geographic alternative given.

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saffy wrote on Feb 7^th, 2011 at 2:13pm:

HMRC does not offer freephone numbers.

Its continuing policy is to retain 0845 numbers for calls from individuals because it believes (falsely) that this is cheaper for them than calls to geographic or 03 numbers.

This mistaken conclusion is addressed (at some length) here.

sherbert wrote on Mar 2^nd, 2011 at 6:52pm:

From BT landlines, under current arrangements, they are generally the same. In some cases they are cheaper, in other cases (e.g. for benefit recipients on BT Basic) more expensive. If the Ofcom proposals to remove special conditions from BT come into effect, BT is likely to fall in line with the normal situation.

The normal situation is for the telephone company to pass on the Service Charge (HMRC, and other 0845 users, benefit at the rate of 1.7p per minute) and to add its own Access Charge. At present these are combined and presented as a single rate. BT is currently prohibited from adding its own Access Charge - it cannot make any money on originating 0845 (and other NTS) calls. Ofcom proposes to lift this prohibition and demand that the two elements of the charge are "unbundled".

Where some callers pay more and others pay less, there are many different ways of determining what is the proper option for a public service body to take. I address and cover some of these in the detailed briefing referred to above, with extensive worked examples showing how each would apply to HMRC and DWP. To put it simply, HMRC and DWP have got it wrong - even using their own very dodgy methods of drawing a conclusion.

Whilst the profile of callers to any call centre will vary, BT currently originates around 25% of non-business telephone calls, according to information published by Ofcom. HMRC assumes a higher than normal proportion of calls from landlines; this is reflected in my figures. In truth, there is probably some "chicken and egg" here. Those who know how much it costs to call HMRC from their own mobile will probably ask a friend or neighbour if they can borrow their landline to make the call.

In addition to the extensive briefing referred to above, I have published a simple table of relative call costs from various major providers.

I argue these issues on a simple point of principle; I do however have to get drawn into the more detailed approaches which are used to defend use of 084 numbers - so as to debunk them on their own terms.

sherbert wrote on Mar 2^nd, 2011 at 9:22pm:

That is true.

What is your point?