Homer Admits She Gets Paid a Lot

Around mid July Lin Homer was asked about her £20K bonus, she said that she should keep it as it reflected “a very good performance”.

Unsurprisingly, given that some HMRC staff do not receive basic pay that amounts to £20K per annum, the issue was raised at a recent HMRC Hotseat Q&A on the intranet.

My thanks to a loyal reader who passed on a transcript of the relevant part:

"Lin Homer Bonus

Can you please tell everyone how you think you can justify the £20,000 bonus that is widely reported in today's media?

This is when all my colleagues have had to put up with either a 1% or no increase on their wages in the last few years that in real money equates to a wage decrease. The bonus you are receiving is actually more than an AA or AO grades salary!

If you did receive an exceed for your PMR then you should be receiving £3607 bonus which is 1.95% of your £185000 salary.

I look forward as does everyone else to your response.
Anon

Answer

Thank you for your question. I know that pay is a really important issue for you at the moment so I’m happy to explain the position on SCS pay, which is handled differently to AA to G6 pay.

Some years ago, a pot of about 9 per cent was created by putting some of SCS base pay into a non-consolidated pot, which was then awarded only to top and achieved performers.

This Government decided to freeze all but a third of that pot and only makes awards to top performers. These awards continue to be distributed.

I should stress that pay and performance management for senior civil servants are handled centrally by the Cabinet Office. In the case of Permanent Secretaries, a remuneration committee – with an independent chair – recommends whether to pay an award and the amount, after considering a wide range of feedback and evidence.

During my time as a SCS, in line with that process, I have been awarded a bonus on a number of occasions and not on others. This is based on evidence and a comparative analysis across all Permanent Secretaries. The decision is reported our Annual Report, and it’s this that prompted the Telegraph piece.

On my visits to our offices and at events many of you tell me the public sector pay cap is making things tough for you financially. I understand why my performance award has generated some strong feelings as I do get paid a lot."

You will observe that Homer doesn't actually answer the question wrt "justifying" it, she passes the buck saying that others have approved it.

On the plus side, she does at least admit that she gets paid a lot!

All happy with that response then?

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Building Our Future - Sod Off

My thanks to a loyal reader who sent me his impressions of HMRC's Building Our Future event that he attended recently.

Seemingly it was, and I quote here:

"Total crap"

Three directors, one from personal tax, attended and read from hastily prepared scripts. I am advised that one of the directors seemed really bored totally out of his wits.

The conference room was half empty, some of the tables were empty and deserted.

Those who are not willing to share in HMRC's 2020 vision will not have a future at HMRC.

Sadly this "sod off" mantra also seems to apply to the taxpayers, eg pensioners and other vulnerable groups, who are unable to use the internet for their taxes and interactions with HMRC.

The future is firmly in front of us!

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"

Tax Credits Deadline Extended

In response to industrial action taking place this week, HMRC is giving #TaxCredits customers an extra week to renew: http://t.co/k3EzOIkwQ3
— HM Revenue & Customs (@HMRCgovuk) July 30, 2014

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"

Business Records Checks - Pissing In The Wind

Following on from my article on Monday about 73% of HMRC's business records checks being fruitless, a loyal reader has advised me of the following:

"Last September I submitted a client company's corporation tax return with the following additional information on it:

1. In our opinion the quality of the accounting records was below the Companies Acts requirements.

2. We were unable to assess the level of closing debtors and creditors.

We are just about to submit this year's return and will have to include the same note again.

Interestingly HMRC have done SFA to check the company's records."

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!

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"

Beware Copycat Websites

Beware the ongoing scam perpetrated by "copycat" tax return websites that charge people money for ordering tax documents that can be obtained for free from the official HMRC site.

People who have, rather unwisely, parted with cash have now attempted to reclaim their money from sites such as Taxreturngateway.com.

 

The Telegraph has heard from 100 victims, each of whom believed, wrongly, that Taxreturngateway was linked to the Government.

It was similar in design to the government, website hmrc.gov.uk, but merely enabled users to order official documents for a "service fee" of up to £1,000.

Some people have managed to get their money back, others haven't.

These people have been duped because they were naive, not net savvy and had little understanding of the tax system (the latter being something that applies to most of the UK's population).

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"

73% of HMRC Visits Fruitless

It seems that HMRC's visits to SME's, in order to carry out detailed checks of records etc, are not particularly popular, nor fruitful.

The number of firms forced to undergo a ‘business record check’ has increased by 62% since they were introduced in 2011, yet 73% of these visits have achieved nothing.

This is Money reports that over 5,500 companies underwent the checks in the year to April 2014 (up from 3,431 in the ten months between April 2011 and February 2012). However, 73% were found to have no significant errors (an increase from the 64% in the previous year).

HMRC say that things will now improve, as the checking system had been subject to revisions aimed at filtering out low-risk companies and preventing them from being exposed to the process.

"From November 2013, the BRC programme was scaled back to better target those at risk of having inadequate records. It will allow us to concentrate on those who need our help and reduce the burden on those customers who are keeping adequate records."

See, nothing to complain about then!


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"