Further to the farce of HMRC running out of paper, thus delaying the despatch of some July SA statements, HMRC recently provided the ICAEW Tax Faculty with an update.
Quote:
"In our previous briefing … we said that due to the higher than anticipated number of statements to be issued we would be unable to issue paper Self Assessment tax statements to all customers in the normal July period.
The majority of the statements were issued on time.
We are issuing the remainder now and they should all be out within the next fortnight.
If your client has been asked to make a second payment on account, this should normally be paid by 31 July. If they receive their statement in August they should still pay the tax due as soon as possible. However they will only be asked to pay interest on the tax due on the second payment on account if it is still not paid by 27 September.
Further information can be found on the HMRC website www.hmrc.gov.uk/news/delay-sa-statements.htm"
It seems that the delayed statements and apolgies (anyone hazard a guess as to the costs of this cock up to the taxpayer?) are coming through, albeit it slowly, one comment on the ICAEW states:
"Just had another statement arrive - dated 3.7.11, with apology sheet, arrived 17.8.11. No evidence of it being mis-directed by Royal Mail."
Anyone know why there was insufficient paper, given that the number of statements to be sent out presumably would have been known?
Tax does have to be taxing.
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They ran out of toilet paper and so had to raid printers, fax paper etc.
ReplyDeleteBeats me why they can't put most stuff online on a report page where you can look up summaries of submissions, what you now owe etc.
ReplyDeleteBanks and many other businesses have been doing it for a few years now.
I should think running out of paper is possibly the least of their worries currently.
ReplyDeleteThere is another staff survey due shortly, coming on top of the recent TSC report on the Administrative Effectiveness of HMRC.
PCS woke up today and launched an e.campaign for members in both ARC and PCS. If sufficient members can be bothered then there is a good chance an MP or two might Champion the Cause.
This lot use more paper even than ever before though they have spent £bn's on IT.
ReplyDeleteObviously the masses of shredded recycle that gets removed regularly doesn't get recycled as paper for the "customers"!
Now if that isn't a pacesetter
3 C's problem solving issue I don't know what is.
It's made worse I suppose by HMRC having to pay twice for the same bit of paper - once to buy it and again to pay for it to be shredded and/or removed by an approved "contractor"!
The politics of the madhouse?
The Glorious 103rd have introduced a system called Caseflow to "assist" with enquiry work. As part of this, your post is not delivered to your desk but sent somewhere Up North to be scanned into the system. It then arrives on your PC. This is supposed to contribute to a reduction in paper usage. Only trouble is, the powers that be insist on a paper file. So all the letters from agents etc are printed off for said file. This means that instead of getting a letter on a piece of paper which an accountant has paid for, they print off a copy on a piece of paper which the taxpayer has paid for. The original letter is, of course, shredded, for which the taxpayer pays again. This is called progress in the madhouse that is HMRC.
ReplyDelete@22 August 2011 16:02
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hmrc.gov.uk/demo/individual/self-assessment/view-your-account/page1.html
There will be no evidence of Royal Mail delays because HMRC use TNT who are cheaper because as soon as they miss their delivery targets they pass the mail on to Royal Mail to deliver for free (in other words at a cost to the taxpayer).
Why Mapeley, Fujitsu and TNT and other private sector tubs of lard that keep getting govt contracts that seem to have 'no blame' clauses.... and the country wonders why there is a huge deficit? Wonder no longer chaps and chappesses!