Friday 21 December 2012

The #economia50

My thanks to those who voted for me in economia’s (the official magazine of the ICAEW) list of the top 50 most influential sources of finance news and information in social media.

I am number 30 on the list.

As per economia:
We asked, and you responded. Here are the top 50 most influential sources of finance news and information in social media, voted for by economia readers and ordered by PeerIndex…


Using the hastag #economia50, readers sent us their nominations, we counted the votes and ranked them according to influence in association with PeerIndex, to reveal the economia Finance Twitter 50.

Topping the list is Michel Barnier, the EU commissioner who oversees financial regulation. The bilingual bureaucrat’s presence at the top of the list suggests the significance of the ongoing EU audit debate as well as the general uncertainty over the eurozone.

Aside from the influence of Europe, the list is dominated by journalists, with Newsnight’s economics editor Paul Mason coming in at number seven. The energetic tweeter offers insight to the UK economy and the political machinations behind it.

Flying the flag for chartered accountants in the top ten is Richard Murphy, founder of the Tax Justice Network and an advisor to the TUC on taxation and economic issues. A sometime columnist for The Guardian and Forbes.com, he offers his followers forthright views on the profession.

Never afraid to express his opinions on HMRC or the profession in general, Ken Frost rounds out the top 30. Frost writes regularly on his own website and blogs for Metro.

Given her role as chair of the Public Accounts Committee, which has spent the last month lambasting tax avoidance schemes used by large companies in the UK, it’s no surprise that MP Margaret Hodge features on our list at 37.”
The full list can be seen here economia.


Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Thursday 20 December 2012

HMRC Offers A Deal

HMRC has unveiled an offer to settle tax liabilities “by agreement” aimed at participants in certain avoidance schemes, including some film finance schemes.

As per the FT:
The settlement opportunity will provide the certainty of some measure of tax relief whereas litigation may result in a worse outcome.”
It said the offer was “cost-effective and consistent with the law”, adding that it would increase the pace of investigations and litigation for those that refused the offer. Taxpayers who settle will be charged interest but are unlikely to face penalties.

This of course is a tacit admission by HMRC that they cannot cope with the backlog of 41,000 tax avoidance cases.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Wednesday 19 December 2012

NAO Report On HMRC Flawed



Yesterday's article about HMRC's call handling performance prompted some discussion and comments alluding to the fact that the National Audit Office (NAO) may be somewhat unwise to rely on data provided by HMRC.

My thanks to loyal reader Stuart Jones who pointed out this wee sentence on page 17 para 1.14 of the report, that acknowledges that the data provided is a tad "iffy":d
"Furthermore, HMRC may have overestimated its performance. All customers who hang up during the automated message are counted as being answered."
Hmm, ie the statistics and the report itself is flawed!

Oh and by the way, whilst my dander is up, the fact that HMRC don't know how much Cable & Wireless (the telephony provider) make out of the contract, nor does HMRC have any right to oversight, is farking disgraceful!

Page 8 para 13:
"Cable & Wireless provides HMRC’s phone service and receives a proportion of the call charges borne by the customer. HMRC has chosen not to receive a share of the revenue and does not know how much Cable & Wireless receives because it has no contractual access to this information."
Bonkers!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Taxpayers Pay £33M To Phone HMRC



As loyal readers know the subject of phoning HMRC is often discussed on this site, as is the cost to the taxpayer of hanging on the phone.

Kudos to the National Audit Office (NAO) for attempting to estimate how much this actually costs the taxpayer.

Their estimate?

£33M!

The NAO estimates that a total of £33M was incurred in call charges by members of the public waiting in phone queues during 2011/12, part of the reason being that most of HMRC’s numbers have the high-charge 0845 prefix (as has been noted many times before on this site).

The NAO have today published a report, Customer Service Performance, which notes that HMRC received 79M calls and answered 74% of them in 2011/12, exceeding a provisional target of 58%. However, as the NAO state, HMRC doesn't exactly have high aspirations:
"HMRC’s service targets are lower and cover fewer areas than those of other organisations."
However, despite these low aspirations, the service level was unsatisfactory; as can be seen from the headline figure above approximately 20M calls went unanswered. Those who did manage to get through had to wait on average 282 seconds before being put through to an adviser.

Oh and by the way, in addition to the taxpayer having to spend £33M on phone bills, taxpayers are also estimated to have wasted £103M of their own time hanging on the telephone waiting for HMRC to answer the phone.

As the report succinctly puts it (annoyingly the "C" word is used):
"HM Revenue & Customs’ ‘customers’ (taxpayers and claimants) do not have a choice about whether they interact with HMRC. This obliges HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to ensure that customers get a good service. Good service also makes economic sense, as poor service imposes costs on HMRC and its customers."
The report concludes:
"HMRC’s customer service arrangements still represent poor value for money for customers."
Special note should be taken of the following:
"If it enters into contracts where service providers get a share of call revenues, it should insist on open-book accounting and transparent arrangements for sharing benefits."
Let's see how that goes then!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Monday 17 December 2012

HMRC Takes The Peace



HMRC tweeted this "idiosyncratic" tweet earlier this morning:
"Hi HMRC’s followers, just to let you know HMRC have decided to stop tweeting about tax today and instead all look for inner peace xoxo."
No, the Twitter account hadn't been hacked nor had HMRC taken some illicit substance.

It is in fact part of an advertising campaign to encourage people who have yet to file their return online to do so now, and thus find "inner peace".

Quote:
"The campaign has been developed to touch on the emotions that HMRC found people typically experience after they have filled in their tax return, often described as a real sense of relief or peace of mind – like a weight being lifted from their shoulders. The new ads feature people from different professions experiencing this feeling of post-return well-being."
Needless to say if you miss the deadline there will be no "inner peace," merely a £100 late submission fine (at the very least)!

I am curious to hear from loyal readers their feelings on this matter, when you have filed your return (be it online or on paper) what emotion do you feel?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Friday 14 December 2012

The Road To Privatisation?



I am aware that many loyal readers have regularly posted comments on this site expressing their views that the government intends to privatise HMRC.

Up until now I have been of the view that privatisation was unlikely:

1 The issue of confidentiality of taxpayer's tax affairs would be very difficult to entrust to a third party (although, as loyal readers will point out, to some extent their parties do have some access to this eg the datagate fiasco was blame on a third party).

2 The political cost of privatising HMRC would be too high, ie there is insufficient support for such a move.

However, based on a recent announcement about a pilot for the outsourcing of text credits debt, it may be that I am wrong and that there is a "plan" (albeit a very "woolly" one) for step by step outsourcing.

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) issued a press release last week noting that people with tax credit overpayments may in future be dealing with third party debt collectors:
"The Government announced yesterday that they are to conduct a payment-by-results pilot on outsourcing the collection of tax credits debt. This could mean that people with overpayments of tax credits will be dealing not with HMRC directly, but with debt collectors who will be paid by results, and who may therefore be tempted to be less than scrupulous in the methods they use.

Robin Williamson, Technical Director of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, commented:
“Tax credits overpayments are not due to claimant error and fraud alone. They arise also from official error, and a certain amount of claimant error is generated by wrong information from government sources.

“Also, because tax credits are a system in which payment is made on a provisional basis while entitlement is decided at the end of the year and adjustments then made, overpayments and underpayments often arise naturally as an integral part of the system. They are an inevitable feature of the design of tax credits. We must seriously question whether dealing with tax credit overpayments just like any other debt, by outsourcing recovery to commercial debt collectors, is an appropriate or proportionate response to the problem.

“If HMRC persist in this course of action, they must take great care to impose the same standards and safeguards as they would themselves when recovering these highly sensitive and untypical debts. The debt recovery arm of HMRC has published specific guidance on tax credits debt which has been developed over the last couple of years. It ensures that people’s circumstances are taken into account in order to set realistic time-to-pay arrangements and that those without the means to pay are able to have their debts suspended or written off in accordance with their needs.”

Notes to editors
  1. The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) is an initiative of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) to give a voice to the unrepresented. Since 1998 LITRG has been working to improve the policy and processes of the tax, tax credits and associated welfare systems for the benefit of those on low incomes."
Views and comments are always welcome, do you think that the government wants to privatise HMRC, if so will it be privatised?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance




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"

Thursday 13 December 2012

Hanging On The Telephone



In August I noted that HMRC was changing its contact numbers for Corporation Tax enquiries.

Subsequently the ICAEW Tax Faculty asked for people's experiences of using the new numbers, here is a link to the comments received thusfar: Contacting HMRC.

This comment particulalry amused me:
"A very helpful tax officer told me not to waste time on the contact centre number. She gave me her fax number and told me to fax her requesting that she call me back."

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Shurely Shome Mishtake?



My thanks to Nick Morgan for alerting me to an interesting story on Tax-Hell, about a tax bill for £3,900 that was sent to one of his loyal readers (a driving instructor).

After some correspondence with HMRC, the bill went up to just under £5K

So far so bad!

Then a chink of light at the end of a tunnel...it transpires the bill was bollocks, and in fact HMRC owed the taxpayer £1,500!
"Our accountant has discovered that the compliance officer made so many mistakes that I am in fact owed £1,500 rather than me owing nearly £5,000 which HMRC were asking for. (The amount initially went up!! from the £3,900 as I stated in my first e-mail to you)."
Well then!

This just goes to prove that mistakes are made by both taxpayers and HMRC. It is essential that tax bills and refunds are double checked by taxpayers.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Kitchen Fraud



On the subject of defrauding HMRC, it was recently reported in Accountancy that Michael Kitchen and seven others were sentenced to jail at Liverpool Crown Court for a toal of 18.5 years for diverting £1.2M of tax payments to his partners in crime through 158 separate payments.

Kitchen was employed by HMRC to allocate payments for PAYE accounts, and was fired in 2009 after an internal investigation.

Kitchen was ordered to pay back £175K, or face a further two years behind bars.

Ian Horridge, Internal Governance, HMRC, said:
"Kitchen abused his position of trust in a sophisticated and sustained fraud aimed at paying the tax liabilities of his friends and associates. HMRC is committed to the highest level of integrity and we take the strongest possible action against the tiny minority who let us all down by falling short of those standards. 

We also use confiscations to ensure that people don’t benefit financially from their criminal activity. The confiscation orders required all the defendants to pay back their ill-gotten gains, or face jail and still owe the money."

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Monday 10 December 2012

The Dangers of Garlic


Now here's a rather interesting tale of deceit and skulduggery, concerning garlic, that the good people of HMRC unearthed.

A little know fact (little known to me at any rate) is that fresh ginger does not attract duty, but fresh garlic does.

Therefore if you are a dishonest importer of fresh ginger and garlic you will attempt to persuade HMRC that you are importing only ginger, rather than garlic. Murugasan Natarajan attempted just such a deception, but HMRC could smell something was not quite right and uncovered over 7,000 tonnes of undeclared garlic (on which duty of £9K was owed).

Murugasan Natarajan has now done a runner!

Here is the full HMRC press release below:
"A garlic smuggler has been jailed for six years for evading around £2 million in customs duty after importing Chinese garlic. 

The smuggler, who is now on the run, claimed he was importing ginger but HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators found that the containers being used were transported at the wrong temperature.

HMRC had launched an investigation into Murugasan Natarajan, 57, who owned the London based Perfect Imports & Exports Ltd company, and with his assitant Lakshmi Suresh, 28, after UK Border Agency  officers found more than 7,000 tons of garlic in addition to the load disclosed for duty purposes – equalling almost £9,000 of unpaid duty. HMRC later checked shipping records and discovered that imports of garlic had stopped but importations of fresh ginger - which are free of duty - had increased five-fold. Further checks showed that the temperature in the containers used were too cold for ginger, but perfect for garlic. 

Natarajan was arrested in April 2011, and was tried in his absence after failing to surrender to bail.
Peter Millroy, Assistant Director of HMRC Criminal Investigation, said: 

“The penalty imposed on Natarajan is the longest sentence imposed in the UK in recent years for the evasion of customs duty. Over 100 containers were identified where there were strong grounds to believe that the contents had either been understated or wrongly described. These rules are designed to protect legitimate businesses from unfair competition.”

During a search of Natarajan’s property almost £150,000 in cash was seized under the proceeds of crime act. In sentencing Natarajan, His Honour Judge Worsley QC said he had played a leading role from the outset, describing the fraud as being “sophisticated, persistent and prolonged.”   

Anyone with any information of the whereabouts of Natarajan should contact HMRC’s Customs, Excise and VAT fraud hotline on 0800 595 000, by email or post.                             

Notes to Editors

1. Murugasan Natarajan of 44 West Drayton Park Avenue, West Drayton, failed to surrender to bail and was tried in his absence at the Old Bailey.  On 7 December 2012, the jury returned a verdict of guilty and sentenced him to 6 years imprisonment. 
2. On 22nd November 2012, Lakshmi Suresh of 4 Stormount Drive, Hayes, pleaded guilty to her role in the fraud and was sentenced to a term of 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.  She was also ordered to pay £10,000 compensation to HMRC."

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Friday 7 December 2012

Starbucks Wars


I have to confess I am a tad "confused" over the bizarre announcement from Starbucks yesterday that they have decided to pay £10M per annum in Corporation Tax, irrespective of whether they are making profits.

1 On what basis have they derived this figure?

2 Either they owe corporation tax or they don't.

3 Since when was Corporation Tax (or for that matter any other tax) voluntary?

4 A cynic might suggest that this announcement suggests a certain fear within Starbucks about having their tax arrangements investigated. I trust and assume that this "voluntary" payment is not some form of cash appeasement designed to assuage HMRC/HMT?

5 Since when did HMRC accept "voluntary" donations?

6 How would HMRC account for this if they were (I don't think they will) to accept it?

HMRC is quite right when it said:
"Corporation tax is not a voluntary tax and Parliament sets out the rules and rates for businesses to follow. The public expects businesses to pay their fair share and HMRC will challenge, through the courts if necessary, any structures or tax payments that do not comply with the UK tax law."
I have no qualms about companies or individuals seeking to reduce their tax liabilities (legally). However, wrt Starbucks and its bizarre announcement I would suggest that HMRC tells them to stuff it and to go in and conduct a root and branch audit of their tax affairs without delay (ie audit the hell out of them!).

I am aware that others are saying that Starbucks have somehow been "bullied" into this by the media/politicians. However, I don't buy that at all.

This stinks!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Thursday 6 December 2012

Question About HMRC's 2,500 "New" Recruits



Can anyone tell me where the additional 2,500 tax investigators, that Osborne was prattling on about yesterday, will be recruited from?

I ask because, given that HMRC has been and continues to reduce its headcount of experienced professionals, this all seems a tad "odd"/bollocks to me?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

RTI Flagship Sinking Fast



HMRC's RTI flagship appears to be sinking fast, even before it has been launched.

Despite assurances from all and sundry that everything to do with RTI is tickedy boo, it appears that this is not the case at all.

Quelle surprise!

HMRC has now admitted that its Real Time Information (RTI) development is running over its original budget of £124M.

It seems that, as with any IT project, changes in the design of RTI have been made resulting in additional costs.

Which is kind of odd really, because in July this year David Gauke said of RTI:
It is on track and going well.

We are optimistic it will deliver to the timetable.”
I suppose, to give him the benefit of the doubt, he didn't say "on budget".

Now, the obvious question is:
"How much is the budget overrun?"
Over to you Davie....

As per Computer Weekly Gauke has answered thusly:
HMRC are working to determine the scale of the increase and are looking at how these additional costs will be met.”
In other words, no one has a farking clue and they don't know how to pay for the overrun!

Well done!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Autumn Statement

Live coverage of George Osborne's Autumn Statement via this link.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

HMRC's Organogram



HMRC has published the latest version of its organisation structure and supporting data.

Here is an Interactive HMRC organisation chart – that shows the various departments in HMRC together with the names, salaries and roles of senior staff.

Here is a spreadsheet version HMRC organisation structure data as at 30 September 2012

Note, although these have only just been published, they only show the situation as at 30 September 2012.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Tuesday 4 December 2012

HMRC People Survey Results 2012



The HMRC people survey results are out, the response rate was 60% (last year's being 52% and 2010 being 69%).

All in all precious little change from last year eg:

- The engagement index was 41% barely up from last year's of 40%.
- Difference from CS2012 -16 (no change from last year's)
- I am proud when I tell others I am part of HMRC 23% (21% last year) etc

I suspect there will be some senior HMRC bods called in to explain this poor result.

Does anyone know what ranking HMRC now is when compared to the rest of the Civil Service?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

PAC Sweats Over RTI



Despite HMRC's oft expressed public confidence over the certainty of success of its flagship RTI, due to be launched next year, not everyone else is so confident.

In amongst the mud and mire about avoidance in yesterday's PAC report on HMRC's annual report and accounts for 2011/12, were some telling paragraphs about PAC's views on RTI.

Here:
"The next challenges HMRC faces are the roll-out of the Real Time Information system and the changes to child benefit. HMRC did not convince us that it will manage the potential increase in its workload or that it had fully considered the impact on taxpayers. There are four months to go before the main roll-out of the Real Time Information system. The system is vital for the Department for Work and Pensions’ introduction of Universal Credit, but HMRC has no contingency planning to cope with any delays in implementation."
Also here:
"HMRC is unduly complacent about the rollout of the Real Time Information (RTI) system and the child benefit changes. We are concerned that, with four months to go to the main roll out of RTI, the project has been rated amber by the Major Projects Authority. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) thinks that the Department's current plans will increase the burden on small businesses and therefore on the Department's workload. 

Similarly more individuals will be required to register for self-assessment as a result of the changes to child benefit. HMRC believes that there will be negligible impact from both sets of changes and do not have contingency plans to deal with delay or fluctuations in workload. 

By the end of March 2013, HMRC should provide the Committee with details of its plans to manage the burden on small businesses as a result of RTI; and provide credible contingency arrangements should the main rollout of RTI between April and October 2013 not go according to plan."
In the event HMRC's flagship sinks this will be a major blow to the government, for the success (or otherwise) of RTI is linked to the government's personal flagship of Universal Credit.

In the event that RTI sinks so does Universal Credit, and most likely with it the government.

Oh dear! 

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Monday 3 December 2012

HMRC U Turn On Machine Games Duty



On the 28th of November I wrote about HMRC's Machine Games Duty:
"Registrations in respect of existing operations must be made before 1 January 2013 to allow HMRC to process applications in plenty of time before 1 February 2013."
Today HMRC have announced a U Turn, and have extended the deadline to 11 January 2013 (although seeming to leave the window open for late registrations even after the extended deadline):
"Online registration for the new Machine Games Duty (MGD) regime has been extended until 11 January 2013, after representation from the industry. 

MGD comes into force on 1 February 2013. Anyone responsible for premises from which gaming machines and other machine games are provided for play must be registered with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) before that date. HMRC cannot guarantee that registration applications received after 11 January will be processed in time.

Failure to register could lead to a penalty of up to 100 per cent of the tax due."

Methinks they are not expecting this to work very smoothly!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Beaker Gets Tough

HMT have published the following wrt tax, evasion, avoidance, jammy dodgers, Starbucks and all other things that dogwhistle politicians seem to hate at the moment etc etc.

Out of interest does anyone really believe that the £77M that Beaker Alexander is puffing himself up over is new money outwith HMRC's budget, or simply being skimmed from other parts of HMRC's existing budget?

Oh and here is some Wiki background on Beaker:
" the Daily Telegraph newspaper published front-page allegations that Alexander had exploited a legal loophole to avoid the payment of capital gains tax on a property he had sold in 2007 alleging that he had profited from a "morally dubious" loophole to avoid paying capital gains tax. A few days earlier, the same newspaper had caused the resignation of Alexander's predecessor David Laws after finding irregularities in his expenses claims. 

The paper suggested that "the fact that Mr Alexander has become the second Lib Dem to face questions about his finances within three days has focused attention on whether the party leadership has properly audited the financial activities of its senior figures". 

Alexander had bought the property, a London flat, in 1999 and, after being elected to parliament for a Scottish constituency in 2005, designated the property as his "second home" while claiming that his first home was now in his constituency. The property was then sold in 2007 for a profit on which he paid no capital gains tax. As the property was the only one he owned, up until 2006, HM Revenue and Customs rules meant that capital gains tax was not payable as should someone find a buyer for their home within three years the property qualifies for relief from [capital gains tax] as long as the property has been the only or main home at some point. 

Speaking at the time Alexander said "I have always listed London as my second home on the basis set out in the parliamentary rules as I spent more time in Scotland than I did in London." The Daily Telegraph itself claimed that "there is no suggestion that Mr Alexander has actually broken any tax laws"
Full text as follows:

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, have today announced new action to clamp down on tax dodgers.

The action comes ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday, and includes;
  • New £77m funding for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in this Spending Review period to expand their anti-avoidance and evasion activity, specifically those focusing on offshore evasion and avoidance by wealthy individuals and by multinationals.  This is expected to bring in an additional £2bn per year in tax that would have otherwise gone unpaid;
  • A groundbreaking agreement with the US, the first of its kind anywhere, that will significantly increase the amount of information on potentially taxable income automatically exchanged between both countries and further enhance HMRC’s ability to tackle offshore evasion.  This sets a new standard in international tax transparency aimed at tackling tax evasion and the Government will look to conclude similar agreements with other jurisdictions;
  • Steps to close the net on the marketers of aggressive tax avoidance schemes, including the introduction of new information disclosure rules and HMRC sanctions for the ‘cowboy’ advisers who sell such schemes;
HMRC is also publishing Closing in on Tax Evasion: HMRC’s approach, which sets out HMRC’s current approach to tax evasion, particularly their use of third party data.   Building on this work and a new ‘centre of excellence’ for offshore evasion within HMRC, the department will develop a comprehensive strategy for tackling offshore evasion to be published in spring 2013.
The Chancellor said:
“The Government is clear that while most taxpayers are doing their bit to help us balance the books, it is unacceptable for a minority to avoid paying their fair share, sometimes by breaking the law.  We are determined to tackle this problem and HMRC are making good progress, but we are giving them additional tools to bring in more.  The action we are announcing today will help HMRC close in not only on those who seek to avoid or evade tax, but on the dubious ‘cowboy’ advisers who sell them the schemes and dodges they use to cheat the law-abiding majority.”

The Chief Secretary said:
“In restoring the public finances, our first priority must be to tackle those who avoid or evade tax.  It is simply not fair that at a time when most people are making a contribution to balancing the nation’s books, there is a small minority of taxpayers who try to escape their responsibility.  We are therefore investing additional resources into the department so that it can step up its fight against tax dodgers and bring in an extra £2bn per year by 2014/15.”

The HMRC investment package will fund specific activity, including;
  • Bringing in more people and additional legal support to speed up HMRC’s work to identify and challenge multinationals’ transfer pricing arrangements and further strengthen their risk assessment capability across the large business sector. This will help to ensure that multinationals do not shift profits out of the UK and therefore pay the tax due in accordance with UK tax law;
  • Expanding HMRC’s Affluent Unit with 100 extra investigators and additional risk and intelligence staff to target avoidance and evasion by the wealthy;
  • Increasing the number of specialist personal tax inspectors to tackle offshore evasion and avoidance of inheritance tax using offshore trusts, bank accounts and other entities, focusing in particular on the agents and tax intermediaries involved;
  • A new ‘centre of excellence’ within HMRC to bring together and enhance its expertise in tackling offshore evasion. The team will be made up of HMRC staff and external experts who will look at how HMRC can best use data to identify offshore tax evasion, review HMRC’s legal powers and work with other tax administrations to close the net on offshore evasion;
  • Improving HMRC’s CONNECT computer system so that the department is able to better identify areas of compliance risk.  This will allow HMRC to act swiftly in identifying and investigating fraudulent behaviour;
  • Increase capacity to tackle aggressive avoidance schemes, including long-running cases involving partnership losses by creating a settlement opportunity that offers a good deal to the Exchequer and proceed more quickly to litigation for cases HMRC does not settle.
The Government is also today announcing steps to move against ‘cowboy’ tax advisers who sell contrived and aggressive tax avoidance schemes to tax dodgers.  Following a consultation over the summer on this issue, the Government will;
  • Consult on proposals to introduce significant new information disclosure and penalty powers to make it more difficult for the marketers of abusive schemes to continue to promote them in the future;
  • Strengthen the existing Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) regime in order to improve the information HMRC obtains about avoidance schemes and the people who use them and widen the range of schemes required to be disclosed.  The Government will legislate in 2013 to extend the range of information that must be disclosed to HMRC and impose additional sanctions for non-compliance;
  • The Chancellor will announce further action to close specific tax avoidance loopholes on Wednesday when setting out his Autumn Statement.

Notes for Editors

1. Over this Parliament, taken together with the Spending Review 2010 reinvestment, the Government will have reinvested around £1bn in HMRC and expects them to deliver an additional £22bn in 14/15, £9bn more a year than in 10/11.
2. The UK-US Agreement to Improve International Tax Compliance and to Implement FATCA is an enhanced automatic tax information exchange agreement which sets a new standard in international tax transparency and strengthens HMRC’s ability to tackle offshore evasion.
3. In December 2010, the Government asked Graham Aaronson QC to lead a study that would consider whether a General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) could deter and counter abusive tax avoidance, while providing certainty, retaining a tax regime that is attractive to businesses, and minimising costs for taxpayers and HMRC. At Budget 2012 the Chancellor announced that the Government would introduce a GAAR and legislate for it in Finance Bill 2013.
4. The Government published Lifting the Lid on Tax Avoidance Schemes in July 2012.  The consultation proposed ideas for action to tackle the promoters of contrived and aggressive tax avoidance schemes.  The Government’s response to the consultation will be published later this month.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Question For PAC



The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP (cough Stemcor), Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, today said:
"Global companies with huge operations in the UK generating significant amounts of income are getting away with paying little or no corporation tax here. This is outrageous and an insult to British businesses and individuals who pay their fair share.
Corporation tax revenues have fallen at a time when securing proper income from taxes is more vital than ever.
There is little credible information about what is going on. The evidence we took from large corporations was unconvincing and, in some cases, evasive. HMRC also lacked clarity when trying to explain its approach to enforcing the corporation tax regime.
The inescapable conclusion is that multinationals are using structures and exploiting current tax legislation to move offshore profits that are clearly generated from economic activity in the UK.
HMRC should be challenging this but its response so far to these big businesses and their aggressive tax planning has lacked determination and looks way too lenient. Policing the tax system must be at the heart of what HMRC does.
It must be more aggressive and assertive in confronting corporate tax avoidance. This is essential for the credibility of both the Department and the tax system.
Confidence in our tax system can only be maintained if every company and every individual is seen to be paying their fair share. That requires HMRC to act firmly now."
PAC also sated that HMRC and corporate taxpayers are failing to meet the legitimate public expectations from the tax system.

It is all very easy to blame HMRC and "evil" multinationals for the government's falling tax revenues.

However, may I ask PAC which "organisation" is actually responsible for drafting the legislation that HMRC and the multinationals use to determine what is their "fair share" of tax (whatever "fair share" actually means)?

Oh yes, that would be Parliament!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Lost



My thanks to a loyal reader who sent me a copy of this missive that he received from HMRC, in which they admit that they took two months to lose his tax return.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Sunday 2 December 2012

Power Corrupts

As per today's Telegraph:
"Judge Lewison was astonished when one HMRC employee admitted that he had no evidence that Abbey had been involved in fraud, but maintained that he had no proof that it was not involved in criminal activity -- which, as the judge pointed out, is not grounds in law for liquidating the company."

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Friday 30 November 2012

Homer Calls For Unity



I see on the civil service website that Lin Homer recently wrote a joint article article calling for unity within the civil service.

I wonder if this is a straw in the wind, and that she is preparing for a larger role outwith HMRC?

Anyone care to speculate?

Here is the aricle in full:
“The public establishments of this country … are regulated upon the principle of merely departmental promotion … The effect naturally is, to cramp the energies of the whole body, to encourage the growth of narrow views.”

These words were written by Stafford H. Northcote and C. E. Trevelyan in 1853 in their report on the organisation of the Civil Service. Since then the Civil Service has gone through many changes of structure, size and outlook, but our need to break down boundaries between departments remains.
Key to this is the Civil Service Reform Plan, which we very much hope you’ve all read and discussed in your teams. We both believe the Civil Service Reform Plan can and should be implemented. As part of this work, Lin is leading on creating a unified civil service, and this message will begin to set out what this means to us.

The first thing to say, is that a unified civil service isn’t just about sharing services – although we can and will share where we have the potential to make enormous efficiencies and savings, such as with payroll and HR. What we want to achieve is more fundamental.

The Civil Service has gradually evolved into a system where departments and agencies have a good deal of independence to deliver their priorities, rather than being firmly controlled by the centre. This has advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, departments are free to decide which areas they focus on and can act accordingly, quickly and efficiently.

On the other, it’s becoming increasingly clear that there are many challenges, and policy changes, that don’t fit neatly into departmental portfolios – that depend on interdependency to be successful. This is why we need to be better at working across our boundaries, to tackle issues such as youth unemployment and encouraging economic growth collectively. There are already some great examples of what we can achieve together – such as the recently launched GOV.UK website, which makes it quicker and easier for members of the public to access government services and information. We’ve also had great success with the Red Tape Challenge, where departments have collaborated closely to remove unnecessary regulations.

What we want to do, and what we want to encourage you all to do, is search for the best examples of working practises across Whitehall and make them standard – covering everything from policy to IT, from legal services to HR. It’s not about shifting back towards a structure where everything is controlled by the centre – it’s about using our many successes and positive examples to help each other. We want you to be proud, not just of working for your department, but also the Civil Service as a whole, and know that it excels at dealing with some of the most challenging issues this country has ever faced. This can be achieved, but only if we’re unified – if we all work together."
 Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Taxwise.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

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"