When HMRC telephone our office they ask a number of security questions before they will proceed to the call. I wondered if anyone was asking them any security questions to check who they were? Clearly anyone could get an accountant's telephone number and pretend to be HMRC.
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I've done it before
I got fed up of this so a few years ago I interrupted the chap and just said, "No, YOU called ME and you could be anybody, please can YOU confirm client's name, address, UTR etc" which was handy as we didn't have his UTR. Now I usually check - after all if someone called asking for your personal details you wouldn't give them over the phone, why should you be expected to give out your clients'.
Besides if you call them for information you still have to go through everything barring your client's inside leg measurement so why shouldn't the same apply.
Or possibly I just like being awkward and running up their phone bill instead of the other way round :)
I've done it too
They call me, they want to take me through security, I take them through security first.
I ask them questions that won't get them breaching Data Protection.
I've already established the client's name, so I ask for 2nd part of post code, last 4 digits of UTS and NI no, month of birth etc, i.e. no whole parts of information.
The HMRC staff I've done this with haven't batted an eyelid. I've then gone through security with them and can have the conversation.
I agree
Whilst there are some whose mission seems be to make HMRC's life as difficult as possible, confirmation of the agent code is a quick and relatively safe means of dealing with the issue - not 100% secure, but enough for my own peace of mind.
Stand-off
If HMRC call and ask me security questions, I usually turn that back on them, resulting in a stand-off. I have had a number of conversations where I have suggested (ranted) that HMRC needs to come up with a suitable method of dealing with security questions with agents so that both parties can be satisfied of the others credentials. Almost always these are SA cases; with CT and PAYE there seems to be more flexibilty, possibly because you are then dealing with someone who is working a case rather than a call centre bod.