Wednesday 29 April 2020

Government Ignore Lords wrt IR35



Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

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Tax Investigation Insurance is an insurance policy that will fully reimburse your accountants (your tax return agent) fees up to £100,000 if you are subject to enquiry by or dispute with HMRC.

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  • Attend any meeting with HMRC
  • Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal
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  • Premiums are Annual Premiums.
  • Premiums are inclusive of 12% IPT. 
  • Premiums and IPT are due in full in advance / at commencement of scheme.
  • There is a NIL excess on all policies.

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Tuesday 28 April 2020

HMRC To 100 Hire Customer Services Consultants - Edinburgh

HMRC in Edinburgh has announced that it are looking to fill 100 customer service roles in Edinburgh.

Seemingly, you don't need any experience.

HMRC says it is looking for people who can work both full time and part-time, and all that it asks is that you have "enthusiasm, helpful manner and willingness to learn."

The role will include dealing with taxpayers over webchat, phone, letters and email.

Customer Services Consultant - Edinburgh (125R)

HM Revenue and Customs
Apply before 11:55 pm on Wednesday 29th April 2020

Reference number

49003

Salary

£19,550 - £21,020
Pro-rata for Part-time

Grade

Administrative Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

HMRC - Customer Services - Other, Across all Customer Services Business Areas

Type of role

Operational Delivery

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time

Number of posts

100

Location

Edinburgh

About the job

Summary

Make HMRC your calling!
At HMRC we’re focused on getting tax right, for everyone.

We’re all doing our bit to make a difference, whether that’s helping customers pay their tax and claim financial support, or making it hard for the dishonest minority to cheat the system.

We couldn’t do all this without our dedicated, and very important, workforce. We’re one of the largest organisations in the UK, and we pride ourselves on our diverse and inclusive working culture.

Job description

Are you great with people, helpful and enthusiastic?

If this sounds like you, then you could be just the Customer Services Consultant we’d be proud to employ at HMRC. You’ll be the first point of contact for our customers, providing a first-rate service by phone, letter, email and webchat.

You’ll actively seek to resolve customer queries at the first point of contact where possible and use your brilliant communication skills to handle sometimes complex yet rewarding conversations. Don’t worry, you’ll get training on how to deal with any complex calls, our job is to support you whilst you help us support our customers.

As a Customer Services Consultant at HMRC, you’ll get real responsibility and opportunities to shine and develop your career with us. You’ll join a friendly and welcoming team and receive plenty of support to help you reach your potential.

No experience is necessary as full training will be given. It’s your enthusiasm, helpful manner and willingness to learn that we require. What we do ask however is that you feel comfortable with chatting on the phone, have good writing skills and are keen to help others.

Working Patterns
Our customer services centres are open 7 days a week 8am to 10pm and your working patterns will fall within these times. You’ll be employed on a 5 out of 7 contract, this means you'll be expected to work five days out of seven days covering various working patterns between 8am and 10pm, usually 37 hours per week.

Part-time working opportunities (minimum 25 hours per week covering various patterns during our opening times) can be considered but business need will dictate whether your request can be accommodated. With this in mind, please only continue with your application if you are able to commit to this type of work pattern.

Part time hours: The pay and annual leave for the vacancy will be pro-rata for successful part-time positions.

Please note: The reason we are launching this recruitment campaign is to ensure we have sufficient resource available for the future to cover our recruitment needs for the next 12 months.

Responsibilities

So could this be you?
You’ll need to be able to demonstrate:

• Great communication skills – both written and verbal
• Dedication to providing a brilliant service for our customers
• Ability to handle both enjoyable and fast-paced conversations
• Ability to provide information, quickly and clearly
• Can-do attitude and a real passion for supporting people
• Proficiency in maths and the ability to deal with basic calculations

We’re striving to be the best customer service organisation in the UK and we need fantastic people like you to help us achieve this.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
  • Communicating and Influencing
  • Managing a Quality Service
  • Delivering at Pace
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
  • Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Benefits

As well as competitive salaries and a generous annual leave entitlement, we offer a substantial package of benefits including:

• Excellent training and career progression
• Competitive pensions
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

Please also find attached 'Your little extras booklet' for further information.

Things you need to know

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Ability and Experience.
We know applying for a job can be daunting, but try not to feel concerned, we really are a friendly team and are here to support you. To help prepare you, below is a rundown of what to expect during the selection process.

• Application
• 250 word example on the Communicating and Influencing behaviour
• Civil Service Judgement Test
• Interview

The behaviour statement will be used as a tie breaker if there are identical scores on the merit list.

After submission of your application and behaviour statement you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Judgement Test (CSJT). We recommend you have access to a desktop computer or laptop and somewhere quiet to do this. During the CSJT and interview you will be tested on the 3 behaviours shown in the behaviour heading above.

We encourage you to complete the online test as soon as possible as there will be no technical help or guaranteed assistance with online tests after 10am on Friday 1st May.

The online test for this vacancy is not timed and there are no restrictions on how long you take to complete it, but it must be fully submitted before 11.30am on Friday 1st May. This is important as we don’t want you to miss out on your opportunity.

Guidance for the online test will be available when you are invited to take part. The test is administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.

Important: We are recruiting a large number of employees for our customer service team for over the next 12 months. However, following the latest announcement from the Prime Minister regarding COVID-19, we are working to keep disruption to a minimum and this includes looking at the way we currently hold interviews.This means our recruitment may run over a longer period to manage the new process carefully. So as things evolve, whilst it may not be immediate, we could still invite you to interview should you successfully pass our online tests. Should you be successful on the Civil Service Judgement Test you will be placed on our merit list in score order.

This vacancy is part of the 125R campaign and linked to the following reference number: 49004.

If you apply for more than one of the linked vacancies above, your test and interview scores will be automatically carried across to each linked (duplicate) application, and you will only be invited to attend one interview. If you are successful, once an offer has been accepted all other applications linked to this campaign will be withdrawn.

If you withdraw your initial application, your applications for any other locations you have applied for within the campaign will also be impacted. If you still want to be considered for your remaining applications, it is very important that you contact The Recruitment Team ASAP to let us know you still want to be considered at the other location. It’s important to contact us when withdrawing one application as it could result in all linked applications being withdrawn.


Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Security

Please ensure you read our security guidance and information before you apply for the vacancy.

Further Information

HM Revenue & Customs is currently going through an exciting ten-year transformation programme to create a tax authority that constantly evolves and grows to ensure we remain fit for the future. As part of this, we are committed to providing high-quality jobs and giving employees a great place to work. Please ensure you read the online details of our office and location changes to see how this could affect you.

Terms and Conditions

Some of HMRC Terms and Conditions of employment changed on 1st May 2013, these will apply to people who are new recruits to HMRC or who take a new job in HMRC on promotion. The document attached to this advertisement provides more information on the changes we made, please note this is not a full list of HMRC's terms and conditions. If you need to discuss how these changes might affect you, please contact the vacancy holder.

Pay

If you are currently working for an OGD and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Pay on Transfer from OGD" for further information.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Any move to HMRC will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here .

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code . sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissions recruitment principles.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

For more information and guidance on working in HMRC please visit our web site .

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :
Name :  HR Ops CSG Recruitment Team
Email :  recruitmentqueries.csg@hmrc.gov.uk
 
Recruitment team :
Email :  hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk


Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Please click here for details.


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 April 2020

Government Urged To Completely Rethink IR35


The government has been urged to “completely rethink” its controversial off-payroll working rules after a Lords select committee found the system to be unfair on both contractors and businesses.

A 67-page report from the House of Lords economic affairs finance bill sub-committee, published today (April 27), said the extension of the off-payroll working rules — commonly known as IR35 — put too great a burden on businesses and was unfair on contractors.

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, chair of the committee, is quoted by the FT:
Our inquiry found these rules to be riddled with problems, unfairnesses, and unintended consequences. 

The potential impact of the rules on the wider labour market, particularly the gig economy, has been overlooked by the government. It must devote time to analysing all of this. A wholesale reform of IR35 is required.”

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Please click here for details.


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 April 2020

How To Claim Furlough

As per the Edinburgh Evening News

To make a claim through the scheme, you will need:
- to be registered for PAYE online
- your UK bank account number and sort code
- your employer PAYE scheme reference number
- the number of employees being furloughed
- each employee’s National Insurance number
- each employee’s payroll or employee number
- the start date and end date of the claim
- the full amount you’re claiming for including employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum pension contributions
- your phone number
You also need to provide either:
- your Corporation Tax unique taxpayer reference
- your Self Assessment unique taxpayer reference
- your company registration number
If you are claiming for more than 100 employees on furlough, you will need to upload a file which includes the following details for each employee:
- full name
- National Insurance number
- payroll number (optional)
- furlough start date
- furlough end date (if known)
- full amount claimed
How do I make a claim?
To make a claim, you will need your Government Gateway user ID and password.
This will have been given to you when you registered for PAYE online.
Once you have these, you can make a claim via the government website.
What happens after I’ve claimed?
Once you have made a claim, you will be given a claim reference number.
HMRC will then check your claim is correct and pay the claim amount by Bacs into your bank account within six working days.
You must:
- keep a copy of the claim reference number for your records
- keep a copy of your calculations in case HMRC need more information about your claim
- tell your employees that you have made a claim and that they do not need to take any more action
- pay your employee their wages, if you have not already
You do not need to contact HMRC unless it has been more than 10 working days since you made a claim and you have not received it in that time.
If you need to contact HMRC about the scheme, you can do so online via the government website.
Who can apply for the scheme?
Any employer with a UK payroll and a UK bank account is eligible to apply for the scheme on their employees' behalf.
Employees must have been on their employer's payroll scheme and had this notified to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on or before March 19.
Those who work for businesses, charities and public authorities will be entitled to the money if their employer signs up, and they can be on any type of contract, including zero-hours or temporary.
If you were employed as of February 28 and on the payroll, but were made redundant or stopped working before March 19, you can qualify for the scheme if your employer re-hires you and puts you on furlough.
Employers can backdate claims to when employees were first furloughed, with the earliest date being March 1.
How long will the scheme last?
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was originally intended to run to June 1 2020, but it has since been extended until at least the end of that month.
Can employees work while on furlough?
Your employer will need to notify you before they put you on furlough.
At this point, you should not undertake any work for your employer during this period.
Workers will remain employed while furloughed, and your employer could choose to fund the differences between this payment and your salary.
If your salary is reduced as a result of these changes, you may be eligible for support through the welfare system, including Universal Credit.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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Monday 20 April 2020

Kudos To HMRC The Furlough Portal Appears To Be Holding Up!




Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Please click here for details.


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 April 2020

Harra "Confident" HMRC Furlough System Up and Running Next Monday

Jim Harra has said that employers should be able to access the coronavirus furlough pay initiative from Monday next week.

The scheme sees the Government pay 80% of the wages for furloughed staff up to a cap of £2,500 a month.

Jim Harra, chief executive of HMRC, told the BBC:
We have already implemented the new system and tested it with a small number of employers.

All employers should be able to access the scheme from next Monday.

They will be able to go online then and make their claims. And that gives them time to receive their grants in time for paying wages to furloughed staff before the last banking day of the month.

Any employer who has a pay as you earn scheme will be able to make a claim if they have furloughed an employee. I am very confident that the system will be available from Monday the 20th, and that there will be time for employers to make their claims and receive payment.

Most employers run their payroll on the last banking day of the month, which would be the 30th, and there is time to get your claims in in time and get money before then.

I think in all of these schemes designed to help the economy, we have had to design them so they can be implemented very quickly and time, in some sense, has been the enemy of perfection.

I’m confident that the vast majority of employees who have been furloughed will get help.

The whole purpose of this scheme is to prevent unnecessary redundancies and keep people on the payroll, because that will help the economy to bounce back once the restrictions have been lifted.

The Government has said that this scheme will be available for furloughs from the first of March until the 30th of May, but the Chancellor has been clear that if it needs to be extended, then he will look to do that. And, I’m sure that that is something he is monitoring and keeping under review.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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Please click here for details.


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 April 2020

HMRC Suspends Some Tax Investigations Owning To COVID-19


HMRC has suspended some investigations into taxpayers and businesses due to constraints on resources during the coronavirus crisis.

The FT reports that HMRC has written to taxpayers currently under investigation, stating it will not request information or documents during the current lockdown, nor press for responses to requests already made.

In some cases, HMRC has said it will temporarily suspend inquiries.

Don't worry though, when this is over HMRC will be back.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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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 April 2020

HMRC Beta Testing 80% Furlough Portal

 

Jim Harra told MPs that in-house IT developers and outsourced IT provider CapGemini had been working 24/7 to complete all the preliminary code changes to create the new 80% furlough reporting portal with phase one testing with selected PAYE employers launched yesterday.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Please click here for details.


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 April 2020

Don't Commit Covid-19 Fraud!


Jim Harra, quite rightly warns people not to defraud the government's coronavirus furlough scheme.


Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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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 April 2020

New Tax Year Started Yesterday


Oops, I totally forgot..the new tax year started yesterday!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Please click here for details.


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 April 2020

BT Reopens 10 Year Old VAT Case


BT appears to have successfully lifted a stay against a decade old restitution suit in the UK High Court for VAT refunds, which originally claimed that HMRC owed them £91.8 million plus interest in overpaid tax.

The situation began in early 2009 after BT wrote to HMRC making a claim for hitherto unclaimed VAT on “bad debt relief” for the period 1st January 1978 to 31st March 1989, which arose because BT had accounted for the standard rate of VAT on its supplies to customers but, in some cases, those customers had failed to pay the operator (either in part or at all) for its supplies.

The law wrongfully said that debtors had to be forced into insolvency before the VAT could be clawed back. HMRC refused to repay the disputed amount and BT ended up appealing before the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) against HMRC’s decision (see details of the last case here).

The case ended up in a sort of legal limbo, until 2017 when HMRC made a legal application to strike out BT’s FTT case. According to The Register, BT then asked the High Court last August 2019 to lift the stay on its case there and Mr Justice Fancourt has now done exactly that.


This of course won't progress very rapidly during the current COVID-19 crisis.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Please click here for details.


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"