Advice for taxpayers

SIR – When I started work as a tax inspector in 1971, the tax office dealt with companies, employees and the self-employed in a local area.

Individual inspectors had their own allocations of companies and the self-employed, while tax officers each had a specific allocation of employees. A taxpayer phoning the office with a query could generally speak to the single person dealing with his or her tax affairs.

After 40 years of computerisation, the vast cost of technology has led to a substantial fall in employees and a concentration of resources in remote offices. I wonder whether the service to taxpayers today (Letters, May 31) is any better, or if it costs any less. Michael Staples

Seaford, East Sussex