Songs For HMRC Raiding Your Bank Account

Elaine Clark of CheapAccounting has made a list of ten songs for HMRC raiding people's bank accounts, eg "Take The Money and Run" by the Steve Miller Band.

Now that the media and politicians have finally woken up to the possible ramifications of this proposal, Cameron was forced to come out and try to defend it. His "rationale" being that taxes would have to go up if the powers were not granted.

I wonder if he can provide the exact amount of extra tax revenue that is expected to be raised, in the event that these powers are granted?

Meanwhile on Twitter:

HMRC owe me a tax refund, its on my statement, I've requested it several times over last 6 months. Can I now raid the Treasury bank account?
— Fiona Hotston Moore (@hotstonmoore) May 12, 2014

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"

HMRC's Smash and Grab Powers Illegal

It seems that the proposed new powers for HMRC that give it the right to take money from people's bank accounts may well be illegal.

Frank Haskew, head of the tax at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, told members of the Treasury select committee that it is "a fundamental tenet of our English law and our democratic society" that money "cannot be grabbed from somebody’s account without a judge agreeing to the move".

He added:

"At the end of the day, we can’t have HMRC as judge and jury on this."

Quite so!

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"

Question

Q: Should HMRC have unfettered powers to take money out of resigning Cabinet Ministers' bank accounts?

— Christie Malry (@fcablog) April 9, 2014

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"

Backlash Over HMRC's Proposed New Powers

Unsurprisingly the Budget announcement that HMRC will be granted new powers to take taxes owed from people's bank accounts, when multiple attempts to contact the laggardly taxpayers have failed, is facing a backlash.

MPs, banks, charities the world and his wife want robust safeguards over HMRC's powers to raid bank accounts.

For why?

There is a not unreasonable fear that errors will be made, and that HMRC might misuse its powers.

Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury select committee, said that MPs intended to hold further hearings into the new powers, which he said could set a worrying precedent.

He is quoted by the FT:

“It has concerned the committee.”

Many banks want judicial oversight to apply to the new powers, as they worry about being caught between irate customers and the tax authorities.

A source from one bank told the FT:

“HMRC doesn’t have the best record of getting things right.” 

HMRC said in a statement that the new power was aimed at a minority “who simply dodge their obligations”.

The new measure would have appropriate safeguards and tackle those who could afford to pay, it added.

“These are people who have, on average, over £20,000 in their accounts but are refusing to pay their debts. This will only affect a tiny number of debtors whom we have contacted a minimum of four times to ask for payment.”

John Thurso MP is a tad cynical about the powers:

“Any advance of powers by the state needs to be resisted unless they can justify it.

The victims will be people with just enough money to go after but not enough to hire lawyers to fend it off.”

Patrick Stevens, director of tax policy at the Chartered Institute of Taxation, was also sceptical:

“There are lots of very unsophisticated people out there with more than £5,000 in a bank account. We are truly worried about the vulnerable.”

As is Robin Williamson, of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group charity:

“As always the financially savvy ones will find ways around this. The ones that will be caught are the vulnerable.”

Basically people are afraid that HMRC will ride roughshod over those who have the least ability to defend themselves.

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"

Citibank Payment Problems

I see that some taxpayers, who left it to the last minute to settle their tax bills on 31 January, may have experienced some difficulty paying into HMRC's Citibank account.

The Telegraph reported that Citibank was experiencing some form of technical problem that prevented payments being made into and out of Citibank accounts.

The Payments Council, the body overseeing the Faster Payment System is quoted by the Telegraph:

"The Faster Payment Scheme is operating normally today. However, Citibank have let us know they are experiencing very high volumes of incoming Faster Payments, due to the HMRC tax deadline, and are asking for patience when submitting a payment."

Citibank restored the system, a spokesman said:

“We apologise that there were some issues making payments at certain peak times today.

Citi's systems are now operating normally and the bank is currently processing all payments without issue. We have been coordinating through the Faster Payments scheme to ensure taxpayers have received the appropriate advice."

Did anyone experience any problems filing or paying at the last minute?


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"

HMRC To Name and Shame Banks

I see that there is the possibility that banks may be "named and shamed" by HMRC if they provide assistance for tax avoidance schemes.

The proposal is made in a consultation document published by HMRC aimed at strengthening the code of practice on taxation for banks.

The closing date for comments is 16 August 2013.

Under HMRC's proposals, banks will have no statutory right of appeal to prevent HMRC naming them in the public domain.

Pinsent Masons partner Ray McCann is quoted in Accountancy Age:

"HMRC wants to revise the code of practice so that they can in effect name and shame banks if they feel that bank has stepped out of line with HMRC's view of what is legitimate tax planning.

This is not the code that banks signed up to - it is definite tightening of the screw.

This gives HMRC the power to impose what will in effect be a sanction i.e. to name and shame banks in circumstances where the bank may not be in breach of any statutory requirement. Failing to allow an independent review process is a worrying precedent especially in the light of the commercial harm such action could involve. "

I wonder if "naming" a bank would really "shame" them; or would it simply advertise their tax schemes to a wider audience?

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"

HMRC's Banking Matters

As everyone in the country is aware (even those who are not amongst my loyal readers) bankers and banks have been hitting the headlines over the last few weeks.

Aside from the soap opera that is Barclays (today's episode will be most interesting, as Broon and his henchmen will be implicated in the LIEBOR scandal) and the mis-selling of interest rate hedges etc, there is the ongoing matter of the NatWest/RBS/Ulster Bank computer meltdown that has caused chaos wrt people's incoming and outgoing payments and access to accounts.

Whilst RBS would have us believe that it is almost all fixed, the hapless individuals who have to bank with (or expect payment from) Ulster Bank are still suffering. Seemingly the Ulster Bank issue will not be fixed until at least 16th July!

What has this diatribe against RBS got to do with HMRC?

Step forward a loyal reader, who I must thank, who recently pointed out a page on HMRC's website that reminds us all that HMRC now banks with RBS.

"Shame they did not ask Homer about the current state of the Government Banking Service used by HMRC

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payinghmrc/bank-account-mig.htm

You will note that it is run by the same RBS group that has so spectacularly screwed up the accounts of its NatWest and Ulster Bank subsidiaries in its recent IT debacle. HMRC may have not been too seriously implemented this time but will it be so lucky in the future.

BTW you have got to hand it to the British government and HMRC for handing over its banking to RBS in April 2008, only to have to bail it out with billions of pounds of taxpayers money to save it from total collapse a few months later. 

Way to go lads."

My question is this, has anyone experienced problems paying money to or receiving money from HMRC as a result of the ongoing RBS system meltdown?

Tax does have to be taxing.



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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"

HMRC Accepts Faster Payments..Sort Of

As from 16th December 2011 HMRC has been accepting Faster Payments (FPS):

"From 16 December 2011 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will be able to accept payments made using the Faster Payments Service. This will allow you to make faster electronic payments, typically via internet or telephone banking, enabling them to be processed on the same or next day."

Hoozah!

Except that, according to the ICAEW Tax Faculty on 4th January:

"When you file a VAT return online, the HMRC website generates an on screen acknowledgement to confirm receipt. The message currently given by this response says:

‘Please note: HMRC does not operate the Faster Payments Service (FPS), which is offered by some banks. Electronic payments will normally take three bank working days to reach the HMRC account.’

The Tax Faculty has been in touch with HMRC about this and we can confirm that our news story is correct, HMRC does now accept Faster Payments. The message in the HMRC website confirmation response will be amended as soon as possible."

Oh well, nearly there!

Tax does have to be taxing.

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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"

The Revolving Door - HMRC Hires Ex Barclays Banker

My thanks to the loyal readers who have let me know that HMRC have just appointed a new Director of Debt Management & Banking, who happens to be ex Barclays.

Anyone know his name please?

Anyhoo, he starts today; so my very best wishes to him.

I dare say that he can help HMRC follow up on Lord Oakeshott's request in April this year that HMRC investigate Barclays' Protium deal in September 2009.

Under the arrangement, Barclays sold $12.3BN of toxic assets to Protium, a Cayman Islands company founded with a $12.6BN loan from the bank.

I have no qualms about tax avoidance. However, HMRC has been banging on for quite some time that it does not like avoidance. Therefore I dare say it will be very keen to look into this issue and clarify where it stands on the matter.

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

The Great Mortgage Con Trick

Another Monday morning crashes into our lives with the depressing inevitability of an unloved season. As such, what better time than to discuss two issues that are close to the hearts of every Englishman (and woman), namely tax and mortgages?

As many of you know (and were so keen to discuss over the weekend) HMRC and our "respected" banks/financial institutions have come to a nice little arrangement wrt mortgage applications.

Lenders who "reasonably suspect" that mortgage fraud may be taking place will now send details of the application to HMRC, who will check income details against information provided in income tax and employment returns. HMRC will then advise lenders whether or not the details match.

On the face of it a nice little "result" for both the banks and HMRC.

The banks get a second pair of eyes to check that they are not being defrauded by some scallywag intent on overstating their income, in order to falsely obtain a mortgage (a criminal offence I would point out).

HMRC get the chance to identify scallywags who understate their income on their tax returns.

Milky bars all round!

However, and there is always a "however" when I direct my gimlet eye towards such a scheme, there are one or two flies in the oinkment.

The banks may well think that they have passed the buck for checking the veracity of mortgage applications to the state. Thus, as and when frauds get through the extra layer of bureaucracy (and be assured they will), they will be able to turn to the government and say "your own agency checked it, don't blame us".

In fact, banks being banks, they will then doubtless sue HMRC for negligence.

Re the concept of "reasonably suspecting" mortgage fraud, dare I suggest that if a bank has suspicions that a fraud may be being perpetrated then (under the terms of the remarkably "catch all" Anti Money Laundering legislation - wherein even the theft of a paperclip by an employee technically constitutes money laundering) it is legally bound to report the suspected crime to the authorities. Mortgage fraud and money laundering are becoming connected.

Passing on a mortgage application to HMRC does not constitute "reporting a suspected money laundering crime to the authorities". In short, if the banks really do suspect a fraud then they must report the suspected crime, and passing it to HMRC is in fact a potential crime in itself.

Based on the above are we therefore to assume that "reasonably suspect" in fact means that all mortgage applications will be passed to HMRC, or none at all?

Given how long it takes HMRC to deal with even the simplest of tasks/correspondence can you seriously see referred mortgage applications being turned around in the speed necessary for a house purchase to be completed?

In short the banks have rather shot themselves in the foot here, by adding an extra layer of tedious time consuming bureaucracy to an already moribund and dying market. They will end up lending less and thus make less profits.

However, from HMRC's point of view this is still a win win situation, given that they gain access to even more data on the hapless taxpayer.....or is it?

Taking into account the point I made earlier about being sued by banks when a fraud is perpetrated, HMRC should also be aware that if they deny someone a mortgage (because they tell the bank that the data does not stack up) they will also be liable to be sued if it turns out that the data anomaly is legitimate (eg fluctuating earnings) or down to a mistake made by HMRC.

Have HMRC really considered what the true costs (time and money spent on legal cases etc) of cock ups with this new scheme will be?

Rest assured there will be many cock ups!

As for the taxpayer/mortgage applicant, as ever they end up holding the shitty end of the stick. This scheme will add to the costs and time taken to obtain a mortgage, and will most likely kick the legs out from the very shaky housing market.

This scheme will backfire on all those involved (banks, HMRC mortgage applicants, house sellers).
  
Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
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Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

Bank Levy Consultation

As announced in the emergency Budget, HMRC this week published the Bank Levy Consultation:

"Risk taking in the banking sector was a significant contributory factor in the recent financial crisis. In particular, problems with risky funding led to serious liquidity problems that played a key role in the financial crisis. Banks should make a contribution that reflects the potential risk to the UK financial system and wider economy from bank failures and consequent loss of consumer and investor confidence."

Institutions and groups will only be liable for the Levy (0.07%), which is expect to raise £2BN (small beer by banks' standards) where their relevant aggregate liabilities subject to the Levy amount to £20BN or more. The Levy does not apply to small firms.

The banks will still of course argue that the levy (even though it is small beer) will reduce their ability to lend money, as it will hit their profits/cashflow etc. This might have a very small element of truth, except for the fact that the government is already castigating them for not lending enough now.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

On The Town With Dave Hartnett

Despite the cutbacks at HMRC it is gratifying toe read that Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at HMRC, (the self proclaimed scourge of tax avoiders) wins the title of Whitehall's most wined and dined civil servant.

The Telegraph reports that Hartnett has treated to corporate hospitality on 107 occasions over the past three years, mostly at breakfasts, lunches and dinners, by some of the UK's biggest banks, law firms and accountancy firms.

It should of course not escape your notice that these firms are paid by people and companies to help them (perfectly legitimately) avoid tax.

The good news is of course that HMRC, I assume, hasn't directly paid for these meals. Indirectly, I dare say, the firms who shelled out for them have charged the costs to their clients (so in the end the British public have ended up paying for this dining fest).

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

Move Over Darling II

As predicted, HMRC have issued a revised version of "Darling's bankers' bonus tax".

Sneaking it out late last Friday, thus trying to minimise their humiliation, HMRC said:

"The bank payroll tax announced at PBR 2009 applies to retail and investment banks (including building societies), and to banking groups. It does not apply to non-banking companies outside of banking groups (for example, insurance companies, asset managers, stockbrokers etc.)."

Doubtless this clarification will have greatly reassured those who try to do business in the UK that our tax laws are well thought through, and professionally drafted.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

Move Over Darling

As I predicted, Brown's and Darling's plans for a bankers' bonus tax (levied to divert attention from the 1% rise in National Insurance) is rapidly falling apart.

Both HMRC and the Treasury have been forced to admit that that the draft legislation on bank bonuses is poorly written, and will have to be revised in the New Year.

It seems, as ever with Labour's shoddy legislative drafting, that the net for this tax could be drawn very wide indeed (eg more than just "bankers").

HMRC are stressing that asset management firms (including those owned by banks), hedge funds, investment advisers, private equity and family offices would not be hit by the tax.

However, no one believes them!

Do you?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

Thought For The Day

Good luck to HMRC in trying to levy a "bankers' bonus tax", in the event that Darling implements one in his "Pre Budget Report" today.

Disregarding the fact that taxing one specific "class" of worker is contrary to the concept of taxes being non discriminatory, the tax will be unworkable:

1 There will be a wholesale exodus of banks, other financial institutions and individuals from the UK.

2 What is the definition of a "banker"? Those who currently fall into Darling's definition of "banker" will simply have their employment status/title changed, to eg "admin clerk".

3 Pay rises will be backdated to mop up the bonus pool.

The tax will be shot to pieces, and HMRC will be forced to waste valuable time and resources trying to "pin a tail on the donkey" of the bankers.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

HMRC's Massive Extension

In a clear admission of defeat, and as a result of protests by banks over the workload involved in informing on their customers, HMRC have extended their deadline for taxpayers to register their offshore holdings from the end of this month to January 4 2010.

Seemingly the fish are not yet scared enough to jump into HMRC's net.

However, in a reflection of the government's anti bank hysteria, HMRC are pushing the banks to speed up wrt providing information about customers' offshore accounts.

January 4 will be the final deadline to "sign up" for the amnesty on unpaid tax from foreign accounts.

Absolutely the final deadline, honest!

Clearly the top bods in HMRC are sweating, as the promises they made to Brown and Darling about how much money this amnesty would bring in are not being fulfilled.

Failure could mean that the top bods might find themselves out of a job, something that up until now only happens to the lower orders within HMRC!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

Don't Believe The Hype - Financial Secrecy

The Tax Justice Network (registered in Belgium) has recently published a Financial Secrecy Index, which allegedly evaluates the transparency of "tax havens" and their willingness to cooperate with other countries tax operations.

Rather amusingly the UK comes in at number 5 out of 60; ie we are "naughtier" than eg the Cayman Islands.

FYI, Belgium (where TJN is registered) comes in at number 9. Maybe, in the interests of practicing what they preach, they should register themselves in Monaco (number 60)?

Vilifying these places may well give some peculiar emotional satisfaction to the hair shirt wearing members of TJN. However, it serves little practical purpose and is potentially harmful to our own economy.

As I noted earlier on this site:

"A recently published Treasury report into offshore tax havens (British Offshore Financial Centres) highlights the important role played by the Crown Dependencies in funding banks on the UK mainland.

Which is kind of ironic, given that HMRC and the Treasury have been vilifying these places for sometime now describing them as havens for "evil" tax avoiders and tax evaders.

The report notes that the Crown Dependencies make a "significant contribution to the liquidity of the UK market".

Given the parlous state of the Brown's Bankrupt Britain, and the fact that despite owning several banks the government appears to be powerless to increase bank lending (thus kickstarting a recovery), the liquidity provided by these offshore centres is even more vital to our embattled economy.

The report notes that in the second quarter of this year, they provided net funds to banks in the UK of £195BN.

Oh and what makes these offshore centres a magnate for inflows of money, that are then funnelled into the UK?

That would be their low tax rates!"

Anyhoo, following the "logic" of TJN, the British government should be pressing itself to reveal to itself details about financial transactions etc going on within its own borders?

John Christensen, director of the Tax Justice Network's international
secretariat, is quoted on the Accountancy Age site lumping in tax avoidance with fraud, terrorism and all manner of illegal activities:

"But this comes at a price.

Financial secrecy provides cover for all manner of crimes and abusive practices: money laundering, tax evasion and avoidance, insider trading, terrorist financing, embezzlement, Ponzi schemes, illicit financial flows, fraud and much more."

Hype, even by TJN's standards!

These people will not be happy until there is 24 hour state monitoring of our every action (financial, physical, etc), their rationale being "guilty until proven innocent"!

Thus starts the journey to dictatorship.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

Don't Believe The Hype

As Dave Hartnett bestrides the net like a colossus, warning tax evaders that they may be banged up in jail, and HMRC gets "heavy" with tax avoidance schemes and offshore financial centres it may be worthwhile focusing on how much tax is actually lost as a result of offshore and onshore tax avoidance schemes (legal).

Last year the TUC conducted some research that they said proved that tax avoidance by the 50 largest companies in the FTSE 100 was depriving the Treasury of £11.8BN.

Deloittes decided to analyse the TUC's research, and concluded that it was bollocks. The amount of tax that the Treasury "loses" from companies using avoidance techniques and offshore tax havens is in fact less than £2BN.

In addition to Deloittes rubbishing the TUC claims, a recently published Treasury report into offshore tax havens (British Offshore Financial Centres) highlights the important role played by the Crown Dependencies in funding banks on the UK mainland.

Which is kind of ironic, given that HMRC and the Treasury have been vilifying these places for sometime now describing them as havens for "evil" tax avoiders and tax evaders.

The report notes that the Crown Dependencies make a "significant contribution to the liquidity of the UK market".

Given the parlous state of the Brown's Bankrupt Britain, and the fact that despite owning several banks the government appears to be powerless to increase bank lending (thus kickstarting a recovery), the liquidity provided by these offshore centres is even more vital to our embattled economy.

The report notes that in the second quarter of this year, they provided net funds to banks in the UK of £195BN.

Oh and what makes these offshore centres a magnate for inflows of money, that are then funnelled into the UK?

That would be their low tax rates!

The same low tax rates that our blinkered Treasury is telling them to raise.

Could it be that the Treasury and HMRC are trying to use tax avoidance and smear offshore financial centres, as diversionary tactic to take people's attention away from the Treasury's and HMRC's economic mismanagement and incompetence?

Surely not!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

Bankers Revolt

It seems that banks are making a stand against HMRC.

Approximately 308 banks, whilst not exactly taking to streets in a "Peasants' Revolt", are kicking up a fuss over HMRC attempts to pry out of them details about their clients' overseas bank accounts (using "Schedule 36 Notices).

The banks are appealing against the notices on the grounds that the request for information is "unduly onerous".

Whilst it is unlikely that, in the long run, the banks will be able to block HMRC this will disrupt HMRC's fishing trip for some time.

Powers for invasion of privacy and spying should be in proportion to the results expected. I remain to be convinced that this fishing trip will net the government billions in evaded tax receipts.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"

HMRC Places Itself Above The Law II

ICAS (The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland) aren't particularly impressed with HMRC's "Code of Practice on Taxation of Banks" either:

"It has always been the case that banks, and other businesses, have applied strict interpretations of the tax law in determining their tax liabilities. This certainty is a key principle for any effective fiscal system. However, the code seeks to persuade the banking sector to encourage compliance with the spirit, as well as the letter of the law.

This relies on the banks' ability to fully understand both the law and the intention of parliament in introducing new tax laws. Understanding the intention of parliament is something which, as recent high profile tax cases have shown, even HMRC are unable to achieve. The code also specifically targets UK banks, leaving other lenders such as overseas banks outside its scope – an approach which is potentially discriminatory."

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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"