Communicating With HMRC

My thanks to a loyal reader who dropped me a wee note the other day, about the problems that he had been having trying to obtain a letter of fiscal residency from HMRC:

"I've been trying to get a Letter of Fiscal Residency for the last couple of months. 

No-one answers the phone, a registered letter has not been answered in three weeks...the usual great service. So, I found a new online service that lets one apply for the fiscal residency confirmation online. 

Great, I thought. 

Filled in the form, pressed send, and got the following auto reply: 

'Thank you for your application for a certificate of residence. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) aim to deal with the majority of applications within 15 working days and you should receive a reply within this timescale...'

Eight days later and I noticed I'd received a reply. 

Great! 

Not great:
'Please note that the e-mail address you have used is not for direct customer enquiries. Your e-mail has not been read by HMRC staff and will not be responded to. 

Please visit our website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk for ways to contact us. 

This is an automated response. 

Please do not reply to this email as your email will be deleted.'"

Can anyone cast some light on the rather bizarre response from HMRC?

My loyal reader and I assume that the form (found here) is being misdirected to the wrong internal email account in HMRC (or that whoever receives it simply does not read it).

For those of you who may also be seeking a letter of fiscal residency, my loyal reader eventually found a backdoor via which to ask for one. He attached a note to his online tax return, and received a reply today from the 'eTeam' confirming that his request had been received and the certificate had been issued on the 11th.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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