Question 1

Are joint/partnership applications acceptable with other organisations to strengthen applications?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but one of the organisations has to act as the lead organisation. They would take responsibility for the performance, and the financial allocation to the other organisations. We would just deal with the lead organisation who would have to meet the eligibility criteria.

Question 2

Can an organisation submit an individual bid and be part of a partnership bid?

Accepted Answer

No. We only accept one bid from any organisation, so organisations couldn't submit a single application and be part of another partnership application.

Question 3

Do you need tax experience to apply?

Accepted Answer

Part of the eligibility criteria is to be able to identify and help customers who have issues related to HMRC services. If you haven't got tax experience, we would really need to understand the value that your organisation would bring and how it would be able to deliver those objectives.

Question 4

We provide HMRC support and guidance but it is not primarily what we do. Are we eligible to apply?

Accepted Answer

If you think you have the HMRC customer base and the demand for tax advice, and you can demonstrate that you can meet the criteria requested in the advert, then please do consider an application.

Question 5

We are a local organisation and only cover a small area. Is it worth us applying?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We are looking for a mix of national, regional, and smaller community-based organisations.  We are looking for an even spread geographically and throughout the country.

Question 6

Do you need any particular qualifications around supporting with tax matters to apply?

Accepted Answer

There are no particular qualifications that we are looking for. Please note any relevant qualifications or experience on the application you have that you feel would be relevant.

Question 7

Would you consider Tax Credits advice as experience?

Accepted Answer

Tax Credits is an HMRC service at the moment but won't be when customers move to Universal Credit. We would need to understand how you will adapt your services and experience to deal with other HMRC services.

Question 8

Does the service have to be existing already or can it be a new service we apply for?

Accepted Answer

The service doesn’t have to have existed previously to be able to apply for the funding, so you can apply for a new service. But we need to have some confidence in the organisation's ability to deliver that service, so that would need to be demonstrated in the application.

Question 9

Is it possible to apply for funding for one year, or do we apply for all three years?

Accepted Answer

It is a three year programme, so we're not taking single year applications.

Question 10

For costing, do you have any guidance on what inflation we should use over the three years?

Accepted Answer

No. The funding that we pay out will be the same amount for each of the three years. If you apply for different amounts across the three years, we will take an average of those amounts and pay the same each year.

Question 11

Value for Money - how will this be assessed?

Accepted Answer

It is not as simple as just measuring the cost per customer because the services offered will differ between organisations. There will be an in-depth review of the whole application and the service offering in conjunction with costs and expected outcomes.

Question 12

Do we just send in the application form or do we need to send in any supporting documents as well?

Accepted Answer

The application form is what we want in the first instance. If organisations are successful, we will be validating their three years accounts, but at the initial stage please just send back your completed application form.

Question 13

How many organisations are you looking to fund through the programme?

Accepted Answer

We haven't set a number of organisations that we want to fund, that will very much depend on what happens at the end of the stage two sift. We think it will be somewhere between 12 and 18 organisations.

Question 14

Can organisations that are younger than three years apply with the help of a sponsor organisation?

Accepted Answer

The lead organisation is the one that we would be dealing with from a performance, financial and grant agreement perspective. It would be up to them to make the decision on any organisations that had less than three years financials in place.

Question 15

How do we add a signature on the application form?

Accepted Answer

There is a way to do a signature electronically, but we are happy for you just to type in your name for the application stage.

Question 16

Is there going be any training or resources available to organisations to deliver this programme?

Accepted Answer

We wouldn't be doing anything above what information is currently available. We'd provide guidance on new initiatives or changes, but on existing tax regime it would be expected that organisations would have the skills, or would know where to access guidance on GOV.UK etc.

Question 17

What is the definition of social enterprise for the funding?

Accepted Answer

For the purpose of this funding, it is an organisation in the social economy whose main objectives are to have a social impact rather than make a profit for their owners or shareholders.

Question 18

Is there a requirement for any match funding for the projects we apply for?

Accepted Answer

No - there are no requirements for match funding.

Question 19

Can you share details of the 12 organisations that were successful in the previous round?

Accepted Answer

The information is available on GOV.UK.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hmrc-pledges-55-million-in-partnership-funding-to-support-customers-who-need-extra-help

Question 20

Would we be disadvantaged by focusing solely on an older population?

Accepted Answer

No. One of the customer groups we are looking to help are those who experience age-related difficulties which often includes digitally excluded customers.

Question 21

Can we include training costs in our bid, to ensure that more staff are tax trained?

Accepted Answer

Yes – it is up to organisations what they wish to include in their costings as long as it is outlined in the application.

Question 22

Would successful organisations be given access to any priority HMRC phone numbers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We can provide access to our Extra Support Team and the Voluntary Sector Tax Resolution Service.

Question 23

Can a Community Benefit Society apply?

Accepted Answer

As Community Benefit Societies are classed as Voluntary and Community sector your organisation would come under this category in the eligibility criteria, however, please be aware that all other eligibility criteria must also be met for the application to be considered.

Question 24

What are you looking for in relation to quality assurance?

Accepted Answer

We'll look at how you as an organisation monitor the quality of the service you provide and how you ensure that the advice being given out by advisers is accurate and in line with HMRC’s current processes and policies. We would expect to see a measure of assurance within your processes.

Question 25

Are organisations expected to share any of our customer data or information with HMRC?

Accepted Answer

HMRC will require overall facts and figures of customers served for the purposes of our reporting. If there's an instance where a customer requires additional support from HMRC services regarding a complex query, then specific customer information will be required to deal with this.

Question 26

Is there a limit on how many partners an organisation can bid with?

Accepted Answer

The lead organisation would need to submit a single bid and take responsibility for issuing funding to partners, it's entirely up to the lead organisation how many partners they have and how funding is distributed.

Question 27

Can a Community Interest Company (C.I.C) apply?

Accepted Answer

CICs come under the bracket of a social enterprise and would therefore be eligible to apply.

Question 28

Does this service require us to offer a face-to-face service to people?

Accepted Answer

No, the programme is also open to organisations that can provide support through additional channels other than face to face such as telephone, email/web chat, workshops and their website.

Question 29

If submitting a partnership bid, is it up to 50% of the lead organisation's turnover?

Accepted Answer

Yes, a maximum threshold would be set for 50% of the lead organisation’s turnover per year (last audited accounts).

Question 30

Can two charities jointly apply to meet the annual turnover requirement?

Accepted Answer

Unfortunately, due to the grant funding agreement we are not able to support joint bids. If organisations were to go into partnership, the lead organisation will be required to meet the eligibility requirements regarding turnover in order to apply.

2024-27 HMRC Grant Funding Q&A