HMRC publish information on average speed to answer monthly and quarterly. Breakdowns for individual helplines including self assessment are contained in the quarterly reports. Times for the Self Assessment helpline are provided below:

HMRC offer offline extra support, for example, through telephone, paper, and face-to-face via their Extra Support Team (face-to-face support has been temporarily suspended due to COVID-19), as well as extra support via their online services. They have also set up a dedicated helpline for anyone experiencing difficulties with seeking access to the COVID-19 support schemes. HMRC work with voluntary and community sector organisations to help taxpayers who need support for a range of reasons from digital exclusion, language, self-confidence, physical or mental health reasons, or difficulties with engaging with HMRC, for example, with compliance or debt issues.

There are no plans to move the Self-Assessment (SA) filing date from 31 January 2021. However, the Government recognises that some taxpayers may have difficulty submitting their SA return due to the impact of COVID-19 on their personal circumstances.

HMRC do not charge penalties for failure to submit a return on time where taxpayers have a reasonable excuse. HMRC’s current guidance explains that they will accept the impact of COVID-19 as a reasonable excuse for submitting a return late, provided that taxpayers explain how they were affected and submit the return as soon as they can. More information is available in the HMRC online guidance covering the reasonable excuse provisions.

The Government urges taxpayers to submit returns on time where possible. Where taxpayers or their agents are struggling to get the information they need to submit a return by 31 January, they can complete it using provisional figures and give HMRC the actual figures as soon as they can.

Taxpayers who are unable to pay all of their SA tax due on 31 January can access HMRC’s enhanced Time to Pay (TTP) arrangements. HMRC have recently enhanced their self-serve, online TTP service.

This now allows liabilities of up to £30,000 – increased from £10,000 - to be paid in up to 12 instalments without having to contact HMRC beforehand.

It is not possible to answer this question in detail, without further information about the specific plan referred to.

The Honourable Member may wish to note that for the forthcoming Self-Assessment deadline HMRC are developing an integrated external campaign which includes direct communications, social media, press and stakeholder management. HMRC would like taxpayers to complete and file their tax return early, so they can plan and budget and ultimately pay the tax they owe. HMRC’s communications will include messages to explain the support available to taxpayers who have been affected financially by COVID-19 and who cannot pay in full by the deadline.

HMRC currently have 57,000 2019-20 Self-Assessment tax returns on hand and aim to process 99% of these by the end of December; this is in line with previous years.

The Government understands that some people with disabilities, those in rural locations with poor broadband services, and those who are digitally excluded for other reasons may find it more difficult to comply with Making Tax Digital (MTD) requirements. MTD exemptions have operated successfully since the introduction of MTD for VAT in April 2019 for businesses with taxable turnover in excess of the VAT threshold. These exemptions will continue to be available to businesses within the expanded scope of MTD.

There will be no specific allowances or payment made to those using MTD for time spent complying with MTD requirements. However, the Government accepts that there will be time spent in familiarisation with the new MTD obligations (digital record keeping and quarterly submission of information). The Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2019 found that those who are the most digitally engaged save a day a week in administration by going digital. Once businesses are used to operating the new MTD processes, the Government anticipates that they will find that MTD makes it easier for them to get things right, reducing errors and saving time in administering their tax affairs.

MTD is not a response to any changes in HMRC workforce. It is a key part of the Government’s long term goal for HMRC to become one of the most digitally advanced tax authorities in the world, and forms part of the Government's 10-year strategy to build a trusted, modern tax administration system. As well as helping to tackle the part of the tax gap arising due to error and failure to take reasonable care, MTD will help to make the tax administration system more resilient and effective in responding to future shocks, while also providing businesses with access to real-time data and a more accurate overview of their financial position.

The Government will not be funding specialist software or training, but will continue to work to ensure that any additional costs to business are minimised. Free Income Tax software will be available for businesses with the simplest tax affairs. For VAT, there are already over a dozen free packages available as part of a highly competitive market with over 500 products for different business needs. On training, the HMRC customer support model includes a multi-layered approach stretching across agents, third party software support, through to telephony support, webchat, and HMRC’s Extra Support service, as well as signposting to information and guides and to local or third party providers of digital skills courses or support already offered by external providers.

For those with slow speeds and no access to other commercial alternatives, the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) came into force in March 2020. The USO gives people in the UK the right to request a decent and affordable broadband connection. The Government has pledged £5 billion to support the rollout of gigabit-capable networks to the hardest to reach 20% of the country.

The information requested is not available. UK tax residents are not required to declare the amount of their funds held overseas. HMRC receive year end information on the value of UK residents’ assets held in Swiss financial institutions via the Common Reporting Standard. However, information for the year ending 31 December 2019 has not yet been exchanged. Taxpayers are required to declare the taxable income and gains received from assets held overseas for each tax year ending on 5 April. This cannot be accurately used to estimate the proportion of assets held overseas to which the declared income and gains relates.

HMRC have no plans currently to extend the deadline of 31 October 2020 for Self-Assessment paper returns for older people in residential care. However, HMRC will take a sympathetic view where the impact of COVID-19 on a person’s personal circumstances has caused them to miss the filing deadline.