How not to organise the tax system

A lot of very frustrated people have told me that over the past few days they've been making a lot of phone calls to the Inland Revenue Tax Credits hotline.

A classic example left over from the last government of how not to organise the tax system. You make a tax credit available to a huge proportion of the population. You require them all to reapply for the benefit annually. You refuse to accept online applications, encouraging people to phone or write in (and effectively particularly encouraging them to phone.)

Then you fail to provide enough telephone lines or advisors to answer them around the time the deadline for applications falls due.

Result - thousands (possibly millions) of people desperately trying to get through.

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