Wednesday, 14 November 2018

Be Warned The Scammers Are Upping Their Game!

Worrying report today that someone was phoned up by scammers who had specific information of APNs that had already been paid.
Please be careful everyone. Do not agree to discuss anything on the phone from an “HMRC” cold caller. Ask them to send in writing as they are required to.
— HMRC Victim #LoanChargeCostsLives (@HMRCVictim) November 14, 2018

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

HMRC Has Never Participated In Disguised Remuneration Schemes

#Struth tells ⁦@LordsEconCom⁩ that HMRC has never paid any contractors involved in Loan Schemes ⁦@LCAG_2019⁩ ⁦@pmanley82⁩ ⁦@WTTconsult⁩ ⁦@wealthagent⁩ ⁦@keithmgordon⁩ ⁦@IainDale⁩ ⁦@DrICampbell⁩ #STOPtheLoanCharge #HMRCHumanCost pic.twitter.com/ej9bCYkhzM
— Mylerdoo (@Mylerdoo) November 13, 2018

Those of you who know different (both staff and non staff) should contact Lord Forsyth.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Monday, 12 November 2018

HMRC Loses Retrospective Tax Demand On ATMs

The Guardian reports that three of Britain’s biggest supermarket groups have won a legal victory worth up to £500m, following a court battle over business rates on cash machines installed at their shops.

The court of appeal ruled on Friday that cash machines located both inside and outside stores should not be liable for additional business rates, which are a form of property tax on businesses collected by the government.

Several retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and the Co-op had fought in the courts against the tax rules set by the Valuation Office Agency – the arm of HM Revenue and Customs responsible for setting business rates – which had claimed that ATMs should be additionally assessed.

The court verdict means the supermarket chains are in line for a multimillion pound windfall from tax refunds, which the property advisory company Colliers estimates is worth about £500m.

The case dates back to a 2013 decision by the government to charge rates on “hole-in-the-wall” cash machines, which was backdated to 2010.

SAY NO TO RETROSPECTIVE TAX!

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Thursday, 8 November 2018

HMRC's IT Systems Are Fucked!

Loyal Reader:

"Latest from the trenches....internal HMRC Intranet which took at least 30 seconds to load a page...quality work from the I.T team at HMRC CDIO...is now being upgraded....hurrah !!!
Instead of 30 seconds......the Intranet after rigorous testing....drum roll..........is producing the error 502 Gateway Error.....brilliant...simply thanks vouchers all round !!! The Titanic continues to sink....when will they ever learn ?
More breaking news as it happens.....

...and even better...our I.T gurus have now admitted defeat and returned to the old Intranet system which takes an average of 30 seconds to load a page...they say it's better than having no system at all...what a BRILLIANT HMRC !! Sticking plasters all round."

"Meanwhile, in HMRC, the much-trumpeted migration of the department's clunky intranet to 'the cloud' had to be rolled back within 24 hours because it broke down immediately, ended up being slower than the unmigrated version, and broke everyone's favourites/bookmarks."

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Tuesday, 6 November 2018

HMRC's £20M Agile Delivery Tender

HMRC Messaging Delivery Group (MDG) is looking for a service provider with experience in delivering integration components and services, a service orientated architect, cloud technologies and DevOps at an enterprise level.

The MDG is delivering integration components for HMRC’s key transformation programmes and projects such as the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), the Border Systems Programme and Making Tax Digital.

HMRC Messaging - Agile delivery and live support of service orientated components

Incomplete applications

29 SME, 6 large

Completed application

1 SME, 0 large

Important dates
Opportunity attribute name	Opportunity attribute value
Published	Friday 2 November 2018
Deadline for asking questions	Friday 9 November 2018 at 11:59pm GMT
Closing date for applications	Friday 16 November 2018 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

Overview
Opportunity attribute name	Opportunity attribute value
Summary of the work	With this call-off MDG are looking for a service provider with specialist capability and experience in delivering Integration components / services, Service Orientated Architect, Cloud technologies and DevOps at an enterprise level.
Latest start date	Friday 1 February 2019
Expected contract length	2 years
Location	No specific location, eg they can work remotely
Organisation the work is for	HM Revenue and Customs
Budget range	Contract value up to £20 million Individual statements of work will have an associated price. Travel and Subsistence payments will be paid in line with HMRC policies.

About the work

About the work
Opportunity attribute name	Opportunity attribute value
Why the work is being done	Within Chief Digital and Information Office (CDIO) the Messaging Delivery Group (MDG) manages all of HMRC's core integration services that deal with over a billion internal and external transactions every year; connecting 100's of HMRC services, developed in a wide variety of technologies. MDG provides a fundamental framework for delivering Application Programming Interface (API) access to HMRC core systems and enabling our digital agenda, API strategy and transformation roadmaps for all our services. We are utilising modern open source products and working in agile methodologies and approaches to develop a modern exciting workplace that delivers flexible cost effective integration solutions.
Problem to be solved	MDG is delivering Integration components for HMRC's key Transformation Programmes / Projects such as Customs Declaration Service, Border Systems Programme, Making Tax Digital. We require a delivery partner to provide development and delivery specialists, working in scrum teams and delivering in phased sprints. We also require Live Support for our services; potentially 24/7/365 and/or on-call. This will be managed via outcome based statements of work for a variety of programmes.
Who the users are and what they need to do	HMRC's Digital Strategy is to accommodate the majority of interaction with customers through digital self-service. This will reduce the nation's tax gap through making the UK's tax system more transparent and reducing the overheads involved in supporting such a system. The MDG provides integration between customer facing digital front-end and Heads of Duty Services. The supplier will need to demonstrate expertise in all the following areas: Business and Technical analysis Integration technologies Cloud Transformation DevOps Agile/ Scrum experience Agile Project Management Service Orientated Architecture Cloud & Security Architecture Architectural Governance Solutions architecture / design Service Management Portfolio Management Delivery Management
Early market engagement
Any work that’s already been done	Work of programmes / projects are at various stages in the development lifecycle. The Customs Declaration Service will be moving in to live service before the end of the 2018. Other projects are moving through Discovery. New projects may be added to the pipeline during the lifetime of the contract.
Existing team	MDG has a mixed team including in-house staff, an existing Service Provider plus contingent labour contractors. There are currently a number of teams working on these services, across 2 sites. The successful supplier team will work with these existing capabilities. A part of the role of the supplier will be to assist HMRC in growing its own capability and we will expect a level of support for our staff at all levels from apprentice through to senior management.
Current phase	Not applicable

Work setup

Work setup
Opportunity attribute name	Opportunity attribute value
Address where the work will take place	HMRC locations including Southend, Telford and London. We would also like to explore options for the supplier working off-site.
Working arrangements	The Supplier: - will manage delivery of products/services as specified in SoW ; - select suitably qualified/experienced staff - have the right to substitute staff with equally qualified/experienced individuals. - will provide mentoring, coaching and knowledge transfer to the in-house team with the ultimate aim of handing over to that team. - be on site 5 days (40 hours) per week collaborating with the wider team unless work commitments require work to be done elsewhere. (We would also be open to explore off-site working providing HMRC's Security policies are adhered to.) - T&S will be paid as per HMRC policies.
Security clearance	The supplier will ensure the relevant security checks i.e. BPSS are completed prior to arrival on site. SC clearance will be required for staff interacting with production environments. HMRC will fund and sponsor SC Clearance.

Additional information

Additional information
Opportunity attribute name	Opportunity attribute value
Additional terms and conditions	Any capability or behaviours concerns will be raised by HMRC to the supplier. However the supplier will manage the performance, attendance and conduct of their staff and will ensure they comply with all HMRC H&S, Security and behaviour policies. - Individuals will be expected to adhere to the Civil Service code of conduct We reserve the right to set payment method as appropriate to the project

Skills and experience

Buyers will use the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience to help them evaluate suppliers’ technical competence.

Skills and experience
Opportunity attribute name	Opportunity attribute value
Essential skills and experience	Evidenced example of scaling up and down teams to accommodate either new requirements or changes within the delivery pipeline. Evidenced example of providing additional and/or value added activities when acting in the role of a partner supplier to an organisation Evidenced example of providing a multi team development capability across multiple projects Experience of providing subject matter expert out of hours support Provide an example of migrating development and services from physical/private-Cloud architecture to public-Cloud architecture
Nice-to-have skills and experience	Experience of working with a Public Sector body or relevant large organisation.

How suppliers will be evaluated

How suppliers will be evaluated
Opportunity attribute name	Opportunity attribute value
How many suppliers to evaluate	5
Proposal criteria	Approach and methodology Team structure Value for money
Cultural fit criteria	Able to start on the work immediately. Have excellent communication skills with staff at all levels of the organisation Be willing to collaborate and partner, including with other suppliers and HMRC staff at all levels. Proactively share knowledge and experiences with members of team, especially with junior HMRC staff. Be innovative and promote ideas and suggestions as applicable Focus on achieving value for money in all activities
Payment approach	Fixed price
Assessment methods	Written proposal Case study
Evaluation weighting	Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 10% Price 40%

Questions asked by suppliers

Questions asked by suppliers
Supplier question	Buyer answer
1. Does the fixed price apply to the overall contract value of £20m, or is it a fixed price per SOW?	We will be looking for the supplier to provide fixed costs against each SoW, where possible. We do however reserve the right to request T&M pricing where that is more approriate to the project delivery under some SoWs.
2. Will the winning provider replace the existing provider (assume they don't win) or will the new provider work alongside the existing provider?	The winning supplier will be replacing the incumbent supplier. However, we expect there will be a period of time where the two will be required to work alongside one another to allow for knowledge handover and upskilling.
3. Which Public Cloud platform are you working towards deploying your solution?	Messaging Delivery Group are currently utilising AWS, but may well in the future deploy solutions to Azure (and potentially other Public Cloud providers).
4. Are you willing to accept SME's provide part of the solution with SoW dedicated for a specific capability for Architecture and review, or Service delivery? Or is it that you expect SME's to collaborate and provide a single proposal as prime and secondary suppliers with a single SoW?	HMRC require a single proposal to deliver all aspects of the requirement. We are not prescriptive, as per the terms of the framework this proposal could come from a consortium of suppliers who come together to deliver (with one lead supplier or a newly formed company, jointly owned by the members of the consortium) or by a single supplier supported by one or more subcontractors. We also welcome bids from suppliers who intend to fulfil 100% of the service through their own capability. Any consortium or subcontractor arrangements must be made clear in the bid information.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Monday, 5 November 2018

This Does Not Augur Well!

On @BBCr4today I smiled when I heard #NHS are going "Digital" to improve our health. #HMRC #MakingTaxDigital
— Norman Elliott (@normanelliottuk) November 5, 2018

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"