Much is made by those "in charge" of HMRC, and by Brown and his henchmen, of the restructuring and rationalisation of this mighty organ of the state.
However, those that actually work for it, interact with it and various MP's are not so impressed with the handling of "Smiler" Brown's conglomeration and reorganisation of Customs and Revenue.
Grantham Quentin Davies MP has expressed his disappointment at the response that he has received from the Government to his protests against the closure of Grantham's tax office.
HMRC staff from the office in Castlegate have been told that they will be relocated to Lincoln, or offered jobs in other offices as part of a restructure of the organisation.
The move will begin in Spring next year.
Treasury minister, Jane Kennedy, confirmed to Mr Davies that the plans will go ahead and assured him that the changes would have minimal effect on taxpayers.
As I have said before, many people prefer being able to talk to a friendly helpful member of HMRC face to face; rather then entangle themselves in the morass of the pig's breakfast of the HMRC website, or hang on the phone for hours as they attempt to access an expert at the HMRC call centre.
Mr Davies agrees:
"By far the worst aspect of the plans to close the Grantham tax office would be that taxpayers, individuals and businesses would have to travel to Lincoln to consult with HMRC. 11,000 callers were received in Grantham in 2006-07 and this service must continue.
The chances of honest mistakes in accounting for tax are greatly increased if there is no opportunity for face-to-face meetings between the taxpayer and the Revenue of Customs and Excise.
This would be a very bad step in the interests of both sides."
I agree, much like the banks that have shut local branches and fired branch managers (as they don't give a stuff about their customers), this is a retrograde step that is not in the interests of the taxpayer.
Government, especially "Smiler" Brown's administration, does not give a fark about the taxpayer (aside from viewing us as a hapless cow to be milked dry for every penny we have).
Tax does have to be taxing.
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"
“Treasury minister, Jane Kennedy, confirmed to Mr Davies that the plans will go ahead and assured him that the changes would have minimal effect on taxpayers.”
ReplyDeleteHMRC “consultation” is legendary. They listen, they categorically deny that any concerns you have or flaws you point out have any basis in fact and then they go right ahead and do exactly what they had intended all along. They do it to the staff (I am one), they do it to the unions (I am a rep) and so it comes as no surprise that they do it to MPs and to their own customers as well.
30 years in HM Customs & Excise – a proud career; less than a 10th of that in HMRC – a completely embarrassing shambles.
I am ashamed to work for them.
...and in my case, I worked 30 years in the Dark Side (ie the former IR)... it was sheer hell... including constant, wall-to-wall bullying of staff and even a suicide. Fortunately I got the chance to transfer over to C&E, which I did, and it was a like a breath of fresh air. How wonderful it was to have escaped from the Dark Side. But not for long, now "they" are back, and as incompetent as ever. It's like the Nazis all over again, an IR invasion of a once proud C&E, the Dark Side have come in with their size 10 jackboots and thoroughly trashed the place. It's an unmitigated disaster and an appalling waste of taxpayer's money. Gordon Brown, how do you manage to sleep at night?
ReplyDelete"...any concerns you have or flaws you point out"... is invariably deemed by The Incompetents (the IR-led HMRC management) as "rocking the boat, being negative or not being a team-player". Believe you me I talk from bitter experience. HMRC management is riven with Nelson's eyes and selective deafness... they only hear what they want to hear. Strange is it not that their in-house glossy staff magazines are full of smiling faces on virtually every page... it is sickening.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I can only endorse all that has already been said.
ReplyDeleteIn my case I spent 20 years working for an organisation that bumbled along, and whilst it made occasional errors, it treated its staff like human beings (by and large) and did its best to collect some tax. Going to work was never exactly “fun”, but on the whole, we were treated decently and made to feel like we were making a valued contribution to society.
Since the Dark Side has taken over, the place has changed out of all recognition and is no longer the organisation I joined. There is a full scale Stasi style terror campaign in operation, being led by jackbooted IR mangers, with staff in a state of constant fear about who is going to picked out next for a Show Trial and subsequent humiliation and dismissal for an invented trivial offence.
All that matters these days is that everything you do is measured and judged to within a millimetre of its existence: actually collecting tax does not come into it any more. The IR has developed a whole army of spreadsheets that have to be filled in and a plethora of targets to be achieved, all of which make actually doing the job rather superflous to requirements. This is demoralising in the extreme to staff who have taken pride for years in what they do. Now it seems that management actually does not want you to collect any tax - it would just get in the way of the spreadsheets.
The new department is a thoroughly offensive and nasty organisation indeed, both to work in and to deal with. Needless to say, I am ashamed to be associated with it, but until I win the Lottery, needs must.
Stasi?
ReplyDeleteFark me - have you watched "The Lives of Others"?
Even the Stasi had a conscience!!!!!