{"id":93766,"date":"2018-07-10T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=10122617809da5dfba0e5b4e398c23a4"},"modified":"2018-07-10T10:00:02","modified_gmt":"2018-07-10T10:00:02","slug":"press-release-open-hmrc-alexa-helps-tax-credits-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=93766","title":{"rendered":"Press release: \u2018Open HMRC\u2019 \u2013 Alexa helps tax credits customers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>HM Revenue and Customs (<abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr>) today (10 July 2018) launched new and innovative technology to help more than 3 million customers renew their tax credits by 31 July.<\/p>\n<p><abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr> has developed a customer-focused service through Amazon Alexa specifically for those seeking help with their tax credits renewals.<\/p>\n<p>Customers with Amazon Alexa-enabled devices can ask Alexa to \u2018open <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr>\u2019 and ask for help and information with a change of circumstances, payment information, or a renewal. No personal information is stored on Alexa and customers cannot renew their tax credits using Alexa.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s just one part of <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr>\u2019s growing online services. Tech-savvy customers can also use the <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr> App on their smartphone to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>renew their tax credits<\/li>\n<li>check their tax credits payments schedule<\/li>\n<li>find out how much they have earned for the year<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Tax credits help working families with targeted support, and more than 65,000 customers this year have already used the app to renew their tax credits, compared to 38,411 customers in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>All online customers can now log into GOV.UK to check the progress of their renewal so they can be reassured it\u2019s being worked on and know when they\u2019ll hear back from <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n<p>Angela MacDonald, <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr>\u2019s Director General for Customer Services, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We know our customers have hectic lives \u2013 full of interruptions and distractions \u2013 which is why <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr>\u2019s online services are available at all times of the day and night.<\/p>\n<p>As the 31 July deadline for tax credits renewals approaches, customers can feel reassured that they can renew their benefits online or via the <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr> App at a time that suits them. And if they need to access help and support, Alexa can help customers find out about what to do when they receive a renewal pack, how to change their circumstances, or how to find out about payment information.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">We\u2019ve improved our services so customers can renew their tax credits at a time that\u2019s convenient for them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Online help and information on renewing tax credits is available on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/browse\/benefits\/tax-credits\">GOV.UK<\/a> and via <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr>\u2019s customer service Twitter feed <a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HMRCcustomers\">@HMRCcustomers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Support is also available on the tax credits helpline (0345 300 3900).<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"further-information\">Further information<\/h3>\n<p>The deadline for people to renew their tax credits is 31 July 2018. Failure to renew before the deadline will mean payments are stopped and customers may have to repay the money they have received since April.<\/p>\n<p>If a customer requests further information through an SMS, the mobile phone number is stored for 6 hours and then automatically deleted.<\/p>\n<p>Claimants can get help and information on renewing tax credits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/browse\/benefits\/tax-credits\">GOV.UK<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li>by tweeting <a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HMRCcustomers\">@HMRCcustomers<\/a> or posting on our Facebook page with general queries<\/li>\n<li>using <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr>\u2019s App, which is available on the App Store or Google Play Store<\/li>\n<li>using <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr> service on Amazon Alexa<\/li>\n<li>using the <a rel=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/online.hmrc.gov.uk\/webchatprod\/community\/forums\/list.page\">online forum<\/a> (click on Tax Credits and You)<\/li>\n<li>through <abbr title=\"HM Revenue and Customs\">HMRC<\/abbr>\u2019s webchat help service<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HMRC is reminding customers to renew as the deadline approaches, and outlining the new technology that can help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}