Thursday 30 October 2014

Guilty Until Proven Innocent!

Deleted by request.

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



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 29 October 2014

HMRC Staff Survey


My thanks to a loyal reader for this insightful comment about HMRC's staff survey (the deadline for which has just passed):
"Lin Homer refers to sustainable cost savings. 

That remains to be seen. 

As HMRC shrinks and staff are obliged to do their own jobs and fill in for those that have taken early retirement, got out in disgust, or been "invited" to hit the road, we shall see. 

Morale is rock bottom, and it will be interesting to see what the People Survey (an internal survey of staff) has to say about engagement, trust, morale, etc. The deadline for completion was last night. 

Since senior management complacently follows the line that everything improves all the time (and beware if each member of staff does not do the same) no doubt the results will be massaged to fit their view. 

As we head for another round of staff assessments where 10% MUST be marked as falling in the bottom category, morale is bound to sink further. Any positive results are a tribute to what HMRC can do despite its senior management."
Would anyone care to predict what the results of this year's survey will show, and be spun to show?

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



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 28 October 2014

HMRC's Charter Annual Report

Loyal readers with long memories may recall that way back in November 2009 HMRC introduced a taxpayers' (HMRC uses the word "customers'") charter.

Moving forward to the present day, on 23 October HMRC published Your Charter Annual Report: April 2013 - March 2014 which analyses HMRC's performance against a series of KPI's.

In summary the Charter lays out rights and obligations:

Your rights — what you can expect from us:
• Respect you
• Help and support you to get things right
• Treat you as honest
• Treat you even-handedly
• Be professional and act with integrity
• Tackle people who deliberately break the rules and challenge those who bend the rules
• Protect your information and respect your privacy
• Accept that someone else can represent you
• Do all we can to keep the cost of dealing with us as low as possible.

Your obligations — what we expect from you:
• Be honest
• Respect our staff
• Take care to get things right

Lin Homer is quoted in the foreword:
"We achieved our best ever performance during 2013-14, exceeding tax and compliance revenues compared to the previous year, while continuing to improve customer service levels and make sustainable cost savings."
She seems very proud, yet further on in her foreword she says that HMRC answered 79% of "customer" calls.

Hardly an outstanding success rate is it?

Ian Young (ICAEW) and Chair of the Charter Advisory Committee then has his say in the document, and is less upbeat:
"..although the performance in five out of the eight rights has improved compared with the previous year, in four of these the scores remain below the equivalent scores from March 2011. This is a cause for concern and the committee will continue to probe the reasons for this and challenge HMRC over their plans for improvement. measures in a process which began in 2009."
He notes in particular that only 41% of agents feel that HMRC does all it can to keep the cost of dealing with it as low as possible, and only 48% of agents feels that HMRC treats them as honest.

I personally feel that the latter is particularly appalling, as it makes it all but impossible for agents to deal with HMRC other than in a defensive or confrontational way.

Young goes on to issue a "prayer" of hope:
"I hope that all the measures that HMRC are putting in place, which are set out in this report, will begin to make a real difference to the results of future surveys."
He doesn't sound very confident that this will come to pass!

Anyhoo, enjoy reading the document and feel free to comment.

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



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 27 October 2014

War and Remembrance


My thanks to a loyal reader who posted the following comment regarding the HMRC London Remembrance Service (in honour of those who gave their lives for their country):
"Now we have to contend with applying for tickets to the London Remembrance Service as "she" is attending as are TV cameras. Bet I won't get allocated a ticket.
Also the hall is being repainted whilst essential maintenance on the building is left (like till falling off of high walls). Who ordered that to be done? It all smells of "Look at me" again......."
Please could someone provide me with more details about this?

Thank you.

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



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 24 October 2014

LDF Set To Fall Short of Target


Unsurprisingly, despite the hype at the time that it was created, the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) is to fall well short of the £3BN yield promised by HMRC in 2012.

AccountancyAge reports that it has generated £833M, and has only 18 months left to run.

Irwin Mitchell is quoted: 
"I suspect that the eventual yield will fall woefully short of that target, and, based on figures to date, is likely to be in the region of £1.2bn. Further changes to the scheme are likely to make this figure worse rather than better."

HMRC disagree:
"Our experience from previous opportunities such as the Offshore Disclosure Facility and New Disclosure Opportunity is that the majority of disclosures come forward close the end date - 5 April 2016 in the case of the LDF."
Time will tell!


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



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 23 October 2014

HMRC To Send Out 33,000 Letters

HMRC will be sending approximately 33,000 letters out to taxpayers by 2016, demanding a tax payment of on average £155K.

The tax demand is as a result of the new powers granted to HMRC in the 2014 Finance Act, enabling it to crackdown on tax avoidance schemes.

Simon Newsham tax partner in Winckworth Sherwood is quoted in the International Business Times:

"This is the most significant of the many clampdowns by HMRC on those taxpayers that have engaged in tax avoidance schemes and practices.

HMRC is looking to recoup £5.1BN over the current tax year and by the end of 2015/16.

Individuals will be naturally concerned when they receive these demands and it is entirely possible that they will not be able to afford to pay straightaway.

Their first call should be to the scheme promoter, presuming they are still in existence, who will be able to advise on whether they continue to challenge HMRC's interpretation of the scheme.

If the promoter accepts HMRC's interpretation, investors should then seek advice from a tax professional before engaging with HMRC."

Accelerated Payment Notices are issued where a taxpayer has entered into a tax avoidance arrangement that has been notified to HMRC under the disclosure of tax avoidance scheme rules (DOTAS) or where a counteraction has taken place under the general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR).

Taxpayers who receive an Accelerated Payment Notice will have to pay the tax due to HMRC within 90 days.

By January 2015, HMRC will be issuing 2,500 Accelerated Payment notices per month and it is on track to deliver notices to 43,000 tax avoidance scheme users, covering £7.1BN of disputed tax, by the end of March 2016.

Jennie Granger, Director General of Enforcement and Compliance, HMRC, said:
"HMRC is making good progress in tackling marketed avoidance as today's figures illustrate. If anyone is concerned about being able to pay the notice they should contact us as soon as possible to discuss their options."

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



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 22 October 2014

FOI Off!

The state likes to pretend that it is transparent, and that the voters have a right to know what it is doing on our behalves.

However, HMRC is a tad more opaque than some other organs of the state. Payrollworld discovered this recently, when it submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) to HMRC regarding RTI penalty warning letters.

The request was relatively simple:

How many RTI penalty warning letters have been issued this year?

HMRC's response was a flat refusal.

For why?

It answered that it might "prejudice the collection of tax”:
HMRC holds the information requested but it is being withheld. 

The exemption that applies here is section 31(1)(d) Freedom of Information Act 2000. This is the exemption that applies to information the disclosure of which would or would be likely to prejudice the assessment or collection of tax.

HMRC believes that disclosing the number of penalty warning letters issued could undermine the effectiveness of the penalty regime which relies to some extent on the deterrent effect of these penalties.
Suffice to say, the real question that needs to be answered (but won't be) is:

How many erroneous warning letters have been sent?

Sadly HMRC is very opaque, the reason being not so much to maintain its "efficient" collection of tax but to hide its incompetence.

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



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 21 October 2014

Outsourcing


Cleaners, activists and some members of the civil service gathered outside HMRC's London HQ last week with placards and had “Don’t wash your hands off us, Lin Homer” written on their palms.

The cleaners have previously written to the HMRC asking for a meeting to discuss the Living Wage, which is now £8.80 an hour in London.

HMRC raised the wages of its cleaners in 100 Parliament Street, yet wages of cleaners elsewhere at Euston Tower, Custom House and Bush House remain the same (minimum wage of £6.50 an hour).

In a letter to Lin Homer, chief executive of HMRC, the Whitehall cleaners argue that although they are subcontracted through a cleaning company, it is ultimately the responsibility of the government department to ensure a just wage.

The cleaners state in the letter sent in July, as per the Guardian:
"We work hard to keep the offices clean, but we are paid less than it costs to live. Due to our low pay many of us have two or even three jobs to make ends meet, working long hours, leaving the house at 4.30am and not returning until past 9pm.”
In an email seen by the Guardian, Lin Homer refused to meet with the cleaners and last month replied:
"I understand your concerns about wage levels and the cost of living but these are matters for employees and employers. HMRC is not the employer so I do not believe that a meeting would have any impact on the issue at this point. You are employed by an external contractor so any concerns you have about your terms and conditions is better dealt with by them.”
She is technically correct. However, the real issue is the fact that HMRC is outsourcing some/many of its functions.

The question therefore is are these outsourced functions being performed as well/better/securely (and at no greater cost) than when they were done in house?

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



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 19 October 2014

Homer's Note In The Telegraph


Lin Homer's note to staff telling them about their forthcoming redundancies, has been picked up by The Telegraph.

I wonder if Hardwick will be putting his head above the parapet again?

Oh, hang on a minute, I see that he has:
 "I'm sorry to have to correct you again, Harriet. 

HMRC's operating budget was £3.26 billion last year - less than a tenth of the figure you have quoted. It was reduced by 25 per cent in the 2010 Spending Review and by another five per cent in the 2013 Spending Review, although we have been given £1 billion of the savings back over four years to invest in tackling tax evasion and avoidance, fraud and error. Using those savings we secured an extra £23.9 billion in compliance revenues last year and an extra £20.7 billion the year before.
You have also compounded your innuendo of last week, by now suggesting that our CFO is leaving as a result of an "accounting glitch". This is as untrue this week as it was last week."


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



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 17 October 2014

Homer's Message To Staff - You're Fired!


As I noted on Saturday, yesterday HMRC made a significant announcement about office closures etc.

The "success" of the restructuring depends on the successful automation ("digital transformation" to use a well worn phrase) of HMRC's processes, if this fails then HMRC will be in the shit.

My thanks to a loyal reader who forwarded me a copy of Lin Homer's message to HMRC staff:

Message from Lin Homer: Workforce changes 

16 October 2014

This morning, we talked to colleagues across HMRC about some important changes we need to make, and what this means for them.

Our first priority has been to ensure that the people who are affected heard from us directly. Now we know that has happened, I want to tell you about what we’re planning, and what will happen next.

As you know, as a Department we are becoming smaller and are increasingly concentrating our work on large sites in the UK’s urban centres.

We are also changing the way we do that work, with far greater emphasis on automation and digital services.

The announcements we’re making today reflect that transformation. We are being, and will continue to be, open and honest about our thinking, and what the future is likely to hold.

There is a lot to share, so I’m going to take each announcement in turn. Q&As are available through links at the end of this message.

1. Consultation on closure dates for 14 offices

Last November, we explained that 14 of our offices did not feature in our medium to long-term plans, and that it was likely that all 14 would close.

On 5 June this year we launched a two-month consultation on proposed closure dates for these offices. We considered all of the information very carefully, and we want to thank everyone who responded. Although we recognise the impact on individuals working in these offices, none of the responses suggested that changing the date of closure would reduce that impact.

As a result, we have decided to close all 14 of the offices on the dates originally planned. This means that 453 people will join the redeployment pool now, and we will do our best to help them to find new roles. However, we have also made it clear that we believe opportunities will be limited, and so in January we will declare those who have not found new roles surplus, and invite them to apply for voluntary redundancy.

2. People working in AA roles in PT Operations

We have made enormous changes to the way in which we deliver our online and digital services in recent years. As a result, there has been a huge reduction in the work traditionally done by people working at AA grade, especially in the areas of PAYE and Self Assessment.

We are also, as you probably know, looking to make major reductions in the amount of post we send out and receive. In July this year, we started scanning mail that comes into PT Operations, removing the need to sort, catalogue and redirect it by hand.

By the end of this year, we plan to have completed the roll-out of mail scanning to cover all PT Operations post, unless it isn’t suitable for digitisation – more detail on what we plan to do with that post can be found below.

Because of these changes, we are now inviting approximately 690 people working at AA grade in PT Operations roles to consider applying for a voluntary exit.

3. ESS Regional Post Rooms

The transformation of the way we handle post also means change for our people in Regional Post Rooms.

Back in June, we announced the closure of our Cardiff and Bootle Regional Post Rooms and invited the 85 people at AA grade there to apply for voluntary redundancy. We said at that time that it was likely that the remaining three post rooms would also close.

Today, we are confirming the closure of the Regional Post Rooms in Cumbernauld, Shipley and Newcastle, on 31 March 2015.

In Cumbernauld and Shipley, we are placing eight people working at O and AO grade in both post rooms into the redeployment pool; again, we will do our best to find them new roles. We think that the chances of finding new roles for the 46 AA grade people working there are more limited, so we are inviting them to apply for voluntary redundancy.

In Newcastle, we will be opening a new Central Mail Unit on the site of the former post room in Benton Park View. This new unit will deal with all of the post received across HMRC that isn’t suitable for scanning, and will also handle outgoing mail until the introduction of our new Centralised Print Service. We’re planning to use the expertise of the staff in the current post room, who will all transfer into the new unit.

4. Wellesley House, Stockport

Earlier this year, we were given notice by DWP to vacate Wellesley House, Stockport by the end of March 2015. Since then, we have looked at where we need to be based in that area, and have done everything we can to find new locations for the 107 people working there.

Forty people who are outside of Reasonable Daily Travel of other locations are still looking for new roles. We will keep trying to redeploy them, but we are also inviting them all to apply for a voluntary exit package.

5. Redeployment pool review

As I said above, we do everything we can to find suitable new roles for people whose work is reducing or coming to an end. However, as HMRC gets smaller, this is getting harder.

We review the redeployment pool regularly throughout the year and identify people who cannot be easily redeployed. We will be contacting people who we believe will find it difficult to obtain new roles by the end of this month, and inviting them to apply for either a voluntary exit or voluntary redundancy.

6. Wingfield House, Portsmouth

Since 2012, we’ve been clear that we plan to close Wingfield House, Portsmouth, by 31 March 2015. This is because we thought that all HMRC people working in Portsmouth would be able to fit into Lynx House by that date.

We now know that the figures have changed, so we’ve decided to close five floors of Wingfield House and transfer 300 people to Lynx House by 30 October 2015. We’re keeping on two floors in Wingfield House, so 100 people will stay there for the time being.

Next steps

As I said above, I know that these announcements mean that some of our colleagues are facing challenging and important choices.

I want to make it very clear that the decisions are not a reflection on them or the quality of their work: I am grateful to all of them for their hard work and their commitment to HMRC and our customers.

We are committed to treating everyone affected sensitively and fairly, and will give them as much support as we can to ensure they can make informed decisions about their futures. Where people want to try to find a new role in HMRC, we will give them priority status for suitable vacancies through the redeployment pool. For people whose type of work is reducing or coming to an end, we are inviting them to apply for either voluntary exit or voluntary redundancy, with a good compensation package. We will also provide practical support and advice on finding a new role outside HMRC.

I recognise that these are not easy messages, but each one is part of the overall transformation of HMRC – into a Department able to cope with the demands facing us in the future.

Thank you.

Lin Homer

Chief Executive

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



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 16 October 2014

Don't Bypass The Courts

CIoT president Anne Fairpo has warned HMRC not to bypass the courts when enforcing tax debts.

She is quoted by AccountancyAge speaking at the CIoT's presidential reception:
"I am concerned about the increasing focus on HMRC enforcement without third party supervision. There is, and can be, no dispute that HMRC needs to enforce tax debts. There's no dispute that we have a societal infrastructure that needs to be paid for.

In a perfect world, perhaps HMRC wouldn't need the courts - but then again, in a perfect world, no-one would need the courts. This is not a perfect world. People make mistakes. HMRC makes mistakes."
Wise words indeed!

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



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 15 October 2014

24 Hour PCS Strike


About 200,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) are expected to take part in a 24 hour strike over pay today.

It is not clear how many of those are HMRC staff, nor what effect that it will have on HMRC services.

Please feel free to update me if any of you have further details about the effects or otherwise.

Thanks.

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



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 14 October 2014

HMRC's Communications Problems

Bloomsbury has published its latest "HMRC customer satisfaction survey" and it is ironic that, despite Stephen Hardwick's (HMRC's Communication's Director) very vocal communication with the Telegraph the other day, taxpayers have expressed increasing frustrations with regard to trying to communicate with HMRC.


As per The Economic Voice, Bloomsbury notes on the plus side that the annual satisfaction survey showed an improvement in taxpayers’ perception of HMRC’s trustworthiness, honesty and integrity, as well as in its effectiveness in protecting personal and business information; ie 65% of accountants and 79% of SMEs surveyed regarded HMRC as trustworthy, up from just 61% and 74% in the previous year. The proportion of people saying that they feel HMRC acts with honesty and integrity has also increased (74% of accountants now believed HMRC acts honestly, up from 68% in 2012/13, while trust from taxpayers remained consistently high at 73% over the last two years).

However, there was a decrease in the perception that HMRC is better at collecting tax than repaying it. This year, only 41% of taxpayers and 36% of SMEs believed this to be the case, down from 59% and 41% respectively in 2010/11.

Additionally, the survey found that accountants, SMEs and individual taxpayers are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the ‘ease of getting in touch with HMRC’.

Only 70% of SMEs think HMRC was easy to contact, down from 80% in 2009/09, similarly, just 63% of individual taxpayers thought HMRC to be easily contactable, down from 75% in 2008/09.

The survey also found that fewer individual taxpayers, accountants and SMEs consider HMRC to be communicating effectively, and keeping them adequately informed of the progress of their query. A record low proportion of accountants, just 51%, felt that HMRC keep them informed, falling from 63% in 2008/09. Just 74% of SMEs feel HMRC keeps them adequately up-to-date, down from 82% in 2008/09.

Over to you Stephen!

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




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 13 October 2014

Stephen Hardwick Lashes Out At The Telegraph

Last week a loyal reader noted that Simon Bowles (CFO of HMRC) was leaving HMRC.

The Telegraph, after I tweeted their City Diary Editor Harriet Dennys the article, duly mentioned it on Sunday and went on to imply that his departure was linked to the 5 million clusterfuck.

Enter Stephen Hardwick (HMRC's Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs - who was initially appointed only on a temporary basis in 2011), who penned a pithy response in the comments section; and I quote:
"I'm the Comms Director at HMRC. Let me separate fact from insinuation.
First, as we told Harriet Dennys, our Finance Chief informed our CEO a long time ago that he had decided to leave on his sixth anniversary, but we only announced it this week because that's when his six months' notice begins. Simple, really.

Second, he's a permanent senior civil servant. He's not on a contract, so the "not seeking to renew his contract for another three-year stint" is tosh. He could stay as long as he likes.

Third, the alleged "botched 5.5 million payments", as Harriet knows full well, is the process that the PAYE system has gone through for the last 60 years, when any discrepancies between what tax has been paid by employees and what they owe are sorted out. This usually occurs because someone has changed jobs, had a pay rise, got a benefit or something which hasn't been notified to HMRC during the year. With Real Time Information, the size of these discrepancies will reduce - provided we get the right information from employers - but there's always likely to be the need to reconcile people's tax accounts at the end of the year. Oh, and our latest best estimate is 18-20,000 incorrect notices were sent out in September, not 100,000. And none of this operational stuff comes under the Chief Finance Officer.

Finally, HMRC brought in record revenues last year - £506 billion - to pay for our nation's public services, so however much we might make mistakes from time to time (no organisation is infallible), we're doing very well at the core job. And we achieved this while keeping within a shrinking budget. This budget stuff is what our Finance Chief is responsible for and he has done it brilliantly for the past five and a half years. He will be sorely missed when he goes."
Hardwick learned his trade as a journalist and political adviser to the deputy head of the Labour Party, so the word "tosh" and firing from the hip comes naturally.


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



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"

Saturday 11 October 2014

Significant Announcement Planned

A significant announcement from HMRC's Workforce Management team is planned for 11.30am on Thursday 16th October.

Please shout if anyone has more details on this.

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



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 10 October 2014

Simon Bowles Leaving HMRC



My thanks to a loyal reader who has posted a comment that Simon Bowles (ex Arthur Andersen who joined HMRC in March 2009 as CFO) is leaving HMRC:
"More rats now deserting the sinking ship - chief finance officer Simon Bowles has announced he is buggering off. Place your bets on the next one.........."
In June 2010 David Cameron released a list of civil servants who were paid more than him, Bowles was on that list:
Simon Bowles
Chief Finance Officer
Director General
HM Revenue & Customs
£185,000 - £189,999 
As far as I can see the details (eg date, future plans etc) have not yet been made public.

Please shout if you have any further details, thanks.

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



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 9 October 2014

HMRC's RTI Not Fit For Purpose Clusterfuck!

My thanks to Elaine Clark for pointing me to an article in the Telegraph about leaked emails from HMRC, that indicate 5 million taxpayers may have had their tax bills incorrectly calculated last year.

HMRC has privately admitted, to itself I assume, that those who underpaid or overpaid income tax last year may still have paid the wrong amount.

Aside from already having been sent new demands or repayments, it seems that the hapless 5 million now face the prospect of having their tax bills recalculated one again.

HMRC has stopped sending repayments until the crisis is resolved, a very neat way of improving its short term cashflow!

Elaine Clark of the Cheapaccounting tax practice is quoted:
"This is extraordinary, a disaster, and heads need to roll at HMRC."
HMRC it currently has no idea about the scale of problem.

The recipients of HMRC's leaked email were advised to tell taxpayers who questioned their bills "not to repay any underpayment" of tax, and those who overpaid tax should not cash any cheques they had received.

Ladies and gentlemen there is only one word that can describe this:

CLUSTERFUCK!

One of the whislteblowers who leaked the email said:
"HMRC refuses to admit the system doesn't work, and it's scandalous that there is no politician holding them to account as the whole programme of welfare reform could be put at risk because of this.

The system is not fit for purpose, it's inherently flawed and routinely produces errors that cause a huge mess for families and employers."
In the leaked email, HMRC admitted that duplicate entries for workers was a major factor behind its latest errors. It also blamed employers for failing to provide the correct salary information in submissions about staff.
"We are urgently investigating these cases and will look to resolve the matter in the next six to eight weeks. 

We currently do not know the scale of the issue but some large employers are involved, so several thousand of employees may be affected."
Elaine Clark said that taxpayers were being forced to wait more than half an hour to get through to HMRC to discuss tax demands. She said many then faced months in limbo before letters arrived, which might now be incorrect.
"The Revenue's flagship new reporting system was supposed to fix these types of problem but it appears to have failed completely.

The pressure put on individuals who face demands for tax is enormous, so it's extraordinary that HMRC should again have made such basic errors."
Is anyone surprised by this?

I doubt it, based on the comment made by a loyal reader yesterday, about HMRC's new death rules, everyone knows the system is fucked up, but no one has the balls to admit it to their political masters:
"As far as I know, no-one actually working on the front line in Personal Tax was asked about this change - the first we knew was when the big announcement about it was made to us a few weeks ago.

We know that this is going to be another balls-up. Even if the RTI data could be relied upon (and it can't - tens of thousands of people have recently had tax calculations for last year which are way out because either their employers or pension companies have supplied the wrong data, or the system has failed to handle it properly), then what about non-PAYE income which doesn't fall into Self Assessment, like savings interest or dividends? 
 
Not taken account of at all as far as we can see. The bereaved are likely to be ripped off all over the place through this. 
 
And why? 
 
So that Excom can cut more front-line staff, save their OBE's and go to the next prayer meeting?"
It was but a short time ago that Homer and her cronies were receiving the blessing of God for their "successes".
 
Where's God now Homer, when you need him/her?
 
Oh wait, he retired some years ago!

Sadly heads won't roll, Homer will simply be promoted to her next level of incompetence and doubtless will be made a Dame. Such a career of incompetence, how does she sleep at night?

Now is the time for the taxpayers to learn the real truth about how bad things are in HMRC. Step forward and tell it how it is!


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



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 8 October 2014

Death and Taxes - HMRC's Bespoke Approach

Irrespective of the fact that people pay taxes during their lifetimes, the state still requires its pound of flesh when they die.

However, although it won't cut the taxes due, HMRC is going to cut down on the amount of information it requires for the bereaved to reclaim tax or pay tax when someone dies.

In 2012, HMRC gave a commitment to improve its service for bereaved taxpayers. 

One of the main changes will make relates to form R27, which is for reclaiming tax or paying tax when someone dies. The FT Adviser notes that of the bereavement calls received by HMRC, 34% were about filling in the form and 15% were to get an update on the progress of the form.

HMRC, in an effort to free up its phone lines, will now use real time information to obtain all the pay and tax information it needs from bereaved taxpayers, making the form R27 unnecessary and ready for removal on 13 October.

For PAYE taxpayers, there will be an automated process, and for self assessment taxpayers there will be what HMRC calls “a tailored service,” which includes letters that match the individual’s circumstances.

According to HMRC, removing the form means taxpayers will get their tax affairs sorted quickly and need to contact it less. That of course is only true if the data used by HMRC is accurate.

As the old saying goes, there are two certainties in life death and taxes!

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



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 7 October 2014

Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink

Beaker Alexander has proudly told the world that HMRC is now using a team of psychologists and "behavioural economists" to make people feel guilty if they don't pay their taxes on time.

LOL!

Those who deliberately evade taxes don't give a fark about feeling "guilty".

Anyhoo, it seems that HMRC has subtly altered the wording of hundreds of thousands of letters sent out to the public to encourage people to pay up.

The Telegraph reports that the letters include statements highlighting how the "great majority" of people pay their taxes on time, while also setting out the importance of taxes in funding public services.

A similar "nudge" approach, developed by the government's "behavioural analysis team", is being used to target potential tax evaders who are being sent letters asking them to clarify their tax affairs.
Earlier this year HMRC has sent 5,000 "nudge" letters to people with Swiss accounts, urging them to pay any outstanding tax. Those who do not respond face a full tax inquiry.

Beaker told his Liberal colleagues:
"We are using psychologists and behavioural economists in HMRC to get the money quickly. 
Tax dodgers beware – we know where you live, we know how much you owe, and now we know how you think. Your behaviour is unacceptable, and we are coming for our money."
HMRC said it conducted "large scale" trials involving 100,000 taxpayers to "pinpoint the exact words and concepts" which make people more likely to pay their taxes.

The letters now include phrases such as "nine out of 10 people in the UK pay their tax on time", or "most people with a debt like yours have now paid it". In many cases, local comparisons were used to encourage people to pay up.

I wonder if HMRC has sent such letters to companies such as Google?

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



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 6 October 2014

Money Money Money

HMRC August data for expenditure above £25K shows that it spent over £800,000 on credit card commission charges in August.

Other tidbits include our old friends Mapeley which received £18.7M (which included costs of utilities payments and refurbishments).

HMRC also paid £77M for the accommodation and ‘other’ expenses of information management service provider Aspire. Capita received £579K for training costs, law enforcement training, HR services, debt management and knowledge analysis and intelligence.

Exchequer Partnership received £2.5M for the serviced accommodation at 100 Parliament Street, London (HMRC's bunker).
 

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



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 3 October 2014

Scanners


According to the Telegraph recently, within months a major British bank will start using personality tests as part of its decision making about whether or not to lend to individuals.

In theory this will allow lenders to form an idea of how we would be likely to behave in certain scenarios. It tests our work ethic and, according to the firm that pioneered it, VisualDNA, it assesses our “humility”.
“Do you feel you have a right to material goods such as cars and expensive TVs? Or do you feel you have to earn and afford these things?” asks one of the firm’s directors, in explaining the type of information the test elicits. “Not everyone has a credit score, but they do have a personality.”
What has this got to do with HMRC?

Alarmingly the article goes on to speculate that HMRC will adopt this technique, as it has been quick to adopt much of the data-screening technology of the private sector.

This will not end well!

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




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 2 October 2014

ICAEW Survey

The ICAEW Tax Faculty will conduct a survey this October, garnering the views of members working in small practices about HMRC's service standards.

As per the ICAEW:
"Over the next few weeks, you might be contacted by Kudos Research, an independent market research agency we have commissioned, to take part in this important study.

HMRC service standards have been a major concern for practitioners for a number of years and we would like to use the results of this research not only to highlight the major areas of concern, but also to identify any areas where there have been improvements. The results will be fed back to HMRC and also published on our website.

Your feedback and input is vital and we would appreciate your contribution if you are approached. The interview should take no more than 10 to 15 minutes and can be arranged at a time most suitable for you. Please be reassured that that all feedback will remain anonymous and confidential.

Please note that this research is a follow up to our previous annual online surveys the results of which can be found through ICAEW 2012 survey HMRC service standards.

HMRC publishes its own performance statistics and it is important for us to find out how your experiences as an agent match the results of HMRC’s survey.

If you have any questions about the research please contact Philippa.Stedman@icaew.com at ICAEW."
The results will be interesting, as to whether HMRC acts on the findings is of course another matter.

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



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 1 October 2014

HMRC's Digital Journey


HMRC has published Digital Strategy: 2014:
"Every customer in the UK will have their own personalised digital tax account, so we can help make it simpler, quicker and easier to pay the right tax at the right time. 

This will have big implications for our staff, as well as our customers, involving changes to the types of job we will be doing and the skills we will need."
Moving on:
"Our ‘exemplar’ digital projects for individuals have already been launched:

  • PAYE for Employees – making it easier for customers to tell us about changes that affect their tax code
  • Digital Self-Assessment – making Self-Assessment filing a completely digital process"
Beyond 2018 most interaction with "customers" will be automated through digital self-service, and data will be collected and analysed over short periods (e.g. daily or hourly); enabling near real time responses to change.

HMRC states that it is building a new digital platform with a common infrastructure that links existing and new systems. The objective is to be more consistent and responsive. The platform will be secure, reliable, flexible and scalable. HMRC wish to manage customer contact flexibly through a range of communication channels including phone, secure messaging and webchat.
"To ensure that no one is excluded from our digital services, we will provide extra support to customers who need it through our assisted digital and inclusion services."
HMRC will recruit new staff; ranging from experienced specialists to talented graduates and apprentices and form flexible multi-disciplined teams, located together.
"This is our digital journey."




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



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"