HM Revenue & Customs should offer compensation to those businesses stuck on a VAT waiting list, the ICAEW has recommended.
The institute made the recommendation in a paper to HMRC suggesting how to resolve the 3-month backlog.
The ICAEW also wants a parliamentary inquiry into why the delays in obtaining a VAT number, which apply to online and paper registrants, are getting worse.
The ICAEW said in a statement:
"We are concerned that the continuing delays have damaged HMRC's reputation and will act to discourage good tax compliance from taxpayers."
Source Accountancy Age
UK VAT Registrations were originally processed at 4 separate sites across the UK. This system only changed this year as all VAT Registrations are dealt with in one centralised unit. Given that there is a much smaller resource is it not obvious that cases will take longer to process?
ReplyDeleteOne main problem is taxpayers generally expect that cases will be dealt with on an urgent basis unfortunately this slows down the process for other registrations waiting in the queue.
Having read many of the comments on this site I request that you give HMRC staff a break. They work hard and generally have to put up with a lot of crap both internal and external.
"dedicated to the taxpayers of Britain, and the employees of the HMRC, who have to endure the monumental shambles that is Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
ReplyDeleteThis site is a living monument to the incompetence and arrogance of Gordon Brown, who set HMRC up."
"We will be dedicated to customer service"
ReplyDelete(a crude paraphrase of part of HMRC's vision statement)
There. That comprehensively refutes claims on this site that HMRC does not always provide an adequate service to its customers!
Now I'd normally leave it at that on the basis that the parallel between what I just did and what you did is pretty obvious, but I've had to explain irony to you in the past (e.g. my comment on your 21/08/08 article), so I'll take no chances.
Just because your stated purpose is to stand up for HMRC staff doesn't mean you do it in practice. For example, criticising the board is understandable (though, as I have pointed out, many of your accusations seem pretty flimsy on closer examination), as they are senior civil servants with significant accountability. However, you frequently cite and criticise management decisions made at local level. Bear in mind that there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of people with line management responsibilities who are employed at "Officer" grade! If your blog really is dedicated to HMRC's employees, you are obviously implying that these individuals, whose salaries start at £19,587, do not count as employees! What exactly do you mean by an HMRC employee, as opposed to a manager, Ken?
(N.B. For the sake of clarity, I'm not the same poster the Anonymous at 21/11/08 21:35)