Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been accused of being a “nightmare” and “totally incompetent” by delaying people’s ability to get off benefits and on to taxi training schemes.
Members of the city council’s licensing committee have been told that the average wait for some would-be taxi drivers to get their tax reference number sent out to them is more than six months.
The issue was raised when Dundee man Kevin Gibb, 26, appeared before the committee to apply for a temporary licence to be granted.
An agent appearing for him told the committee that Mr Gibb was still waiting for his tax reference number from the HMRC so he can get away from the Job Centre and on to a taxi training course after having first applied for it in January.
He said: “The tax people are just not very efficient. Mr Gibb has applied several times but they just won’t come up with it.
“I had to send him to an accountant and get a letter from him to say we have sent in the documentation.
“The problem is you can’t speak to anyone, you can’t go and meet anyone face-to-face and say ‘I need this’.
“He’s told them over the phone that he needs the reference number to get his licence but they say you don’t.
“The council has given him several temporary licences but if they want to be bad-minded about it they could stop issuing them and put the process into abeyance for six months.
“The tax people are a nightmare they’re just totally incompetent.”
The licensing committee agreed to instruct officers to write to the DWP over the issue.
A spokesman for HMRC said: “We can’t discuss individual cases. However, if Mr Gibb contacts us through the customer services helpline for newly self-employed (0845 915 4515) then one of our customer service operators will talk him through the process.”
Mr Gibb said the reference number had finally come through and he was clear to begin his new career.
He said: “I was told this could be a good career, but I didn’t think it would start like this. It was very close to falling through because of the tax.”