Accountancy Age reports that an error by HMRC led to a single compensation payout of £1.2m to a group of taxpayers in the 2009/10 tax year.
David Gauke, Exchequer secretary to the Treasury (ever popular on this site), revealed that HMRC made a single, exceptional payment of £1.2m as part of its ex-gratia financial redress policy.
As to what the payment/error related to we shall never know, because HMRC refused to provide details despite a freedom of information request by Accountancy Age.
Quite correctly HMRC stated that it cannot breach taxpayer confidentiality.
Quite incorrectly HMRC referred to the taxpayers as "customers".
Quote:
"What I can tell you is that the £1.2m was a single payment, paid in respect of a group of customers. We believe, however, that providing any more detail might breach our strict legal obligations to maintain taxpayer confidentiality, which is why the information is being withheld."
FFS, taxpayers are not farking "customers"!
Which bunch of useless overpaid management consultants (hired at great expense to the long suffering taxpayers) conned HMRC into referring to taxpayers as "customers"?
Even if HMRC does not change or improve anything else in its long death march towards oblivion, please please stop calling us "customers"!
Taxpayers are not farking customers!
Tax does have to be taxing.
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Especially as everywhere else the customer is always right!
ReplyDeleteI'm off to check my tax code......I might never have to work in one of their effing contact centres ever again
ReplyDeleteAll courtesy of HMRC
Result!!!
I was part of the experiment three years ago which involved phoning self assessment taxpayers as a courtesy to remind them to file their returns on time. I called one chap who was a bit suspicious "What's all this about then?" he asked. I slipped up and used the "C" word as I explained the reason for the call. "CUSTOMERS?" he exploded, "what do you mean f-ing CUSTOMERS???"
ReplyDelete"Oh I get it" he said after cooling down a bit, "you mean like Dick Turpin's customers!".
These could be the people
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2010/1448.html
ReplyDelete