Wednesday 4 May 2011

The Bleedin' Obvious

Bleedin' ObviousThe Treasury select committee published its report on the Finance Bill on 2 May, based on findings made by ICAEW, ACCA and CIoT.

Accountancy Age quote Barry Murphy, tax partner at PwC, who said that the very fact that three institutes have had to work out the impact of the Budget suggests that the tax system is still overly complex.

No kidding!

"The Treasury committee's report has reiterated a consistent theme of small businesses struggling to access the right accounting and tax advice so that they do not get caught out by complex new rules," he said.

Whether all taxpayers are able to access the right advice and pay the right amount of tax could perhaps serve as a good litmus test for HMRC's stated ambition to work more openly with advisers and taxpayers.
"

The politicians are responsible for the mess that is our tax system, and the ongoing shambles within HMRC. Sadly they show little sign of being able/willing to clean that mess up.

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE 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 Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

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"

4 comments:

  1. Lets get a few things straight once and for all;
    The muppets in charge at the Glorious 103rd Brigade don't care what is said by anyone, whether they are staff, "customers", politicians or professionals.
    Nothing is going to prise this lot out of power whilst they are "earning" so much.
    The fact that they can neither manage a booze up in a brewery or accept that they are crap is of no consequence.
    The wasted billions on IT systems that don't work and a system that is widly regarded as a failed joke, yes, you guessed this one - pacesetter, don't matter as it is not their money or were they to be a real "business", their hard earned income.
    If only someone had the brass to ask the right questions and open the right cupboards, there would be more skeletons than your average graveyard being unearthed.
    Never mind, where can we waste more money....?

    ReplyDelete
  2. If HMRC were an animal it would have been put down some time ago.
    Vote Euthanasia for HMRC in tomorrows elections - you know it makes sense!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anon @ 19:36...

    "...wasted billions on IT systems that don't work..."

    ...this includes buying in a new case management system that does NOT include a detailed user guide for the staff expected to use the system. The inevitable result is a case management and data storage system that no-one knows how to use properly, no-one knows for sure how or where to enter/update case information, and the quality of the data itself is of questionable value. Staff have resorted to writing their own instruction guide based entirely on "trial and error" (and there have been thousands of errors to date... and doubtless a good few thousand more to follow). It is an utter shambles from start to finish, and when these most serious issues are drawn to management's attention the response is, quite literally, blank expressions all round. It is a classic case of "the blind leading the blind" with apparently no hope of finding a way out exacerbated by a bullying management that wear heavy duty ear muffs!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. But, they are engaging more with the staff, their Comms Officer said so, and they are going to make sure they have the right people in the right jobs in all leadership roles and they will help managers develop their skills and confidence so that they can manage change well and help drive improved performance, and, wait for it, management will work to a common set of leadership behaviours.
    So, the basic way I read that is that these are things they should have been doing but haven't been - WHY?!
    Do you think they finally know something about what they have been ignoring for the past X years?
    What a pity they don't put it into practice throughout. It must be like trying to shove water uphill now given the job losses to come, more output demanded from less resource, IT that can't begin to get it right, no pay rise = pay cut, the worst sickness record in the Civil "Service" with stress related issues at an all time high oh yes, and whilst we charge you more for your pension we will be privatising it shortly.....WTF!
    Good old 103rd - you really couldn't dream it up.

    ReplyDelete