When In Doubt, Just Make The Tax System Even More Complex!

 

Hunt plans new investment relief in budget, when corporation tax rises to 25%. One option discussed was temporary full (or 50-80%) expensing for 3yrs with a permanent plan in manifesto. At £11bn, he can't currently afford a permanent giveaway. W @Joe_Mayeshttps://t.co/rJM1FqeuIV

— Philip Aldrick (@PhilAldrick) March 8, 2023

Just cut the rate you idiot!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Market leading tax fee protection insurance for businesses, sole traders and individuals. Protect yourself from accountancy fees in the event of an HMRC enquiry.

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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Tax Investigation Insurance is an insurance policy that will fully reimburse your accountant's (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
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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"

HMRC Duplicate Corporation Tax Payments

My thanks to a loyal reader who has alerted me to problems wrt duplicate receipts of corporation tax payments being made by HMRC.

"You may be interested to learn that HMRC has been duplicating receipts of Corporation Tax payments and then making repayment to the company.

We discovered this when a corporate client received repayment of the Corporation Tax liability we had advised them to pay. Checking HMRC's Online Services we noted that the payment had been recorded twice (and had misdescribed the method of payment).

HMRC has just called to advise that they have discovered this has happened with other corporate taxpayers but did not know:

- how many companies had been impacted 
- which companies had been impacted 
- what had caused the problem
- how they were going to fix the problem

At a time when public finances are so stretched, we are sure you would agree that the level of incompetence demonstrated by HMRC is appalling and the fact that they have not a clue how and when they are going to resolve the matter shows just how poor HMRC's senior management team is performing."

Have other people come across this problem?

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"

Corporation Taxpayers Need To Login Twice

 

CCH Daily reports that taxpayers who submit returns using the HMRC free corporation tax service will receive an on-screen acknowledgement (‘Submission successful’ or ‘Submitted’) during online filing, but this does not confirm the final status.

This means that taxpayers need to doublecheck their entries, as it is not clear at this stage whether the return has actually been processed.

Those companies using the free service will have to login twice to check the dashboard to confirm whether the submission has been accepted. The dashboard is the only place to see the final outcome, which will be either ’Submission error’ or ‘Submission complete’, which means the filing was accepted.

Until the problem is resolved, HMRC is telling taxpayers to:

‘log back into the service following online submission and view the dashboard. You can track your submissions here to determine the final submission status anytime within 30 days of filing’.

It is not clear as to when HMRC will fix this problem, as they won't say!


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 Changes Bank Details - Without Telling Anyone

Kudos to HMRC for forgetting to tell people that it had changed its bank account details, for firms which pay tax using IBAN, in February.

Can you guess what happened next children?

Yes, that's right, tens of millions of pounds in VAT and corporation tax has not been paid.

The Telegraph reports that large tax payments from a number of businesses have bounced and remain uncollected.

However, no problem as far as HMRC is concerned.

How so?

It has levied the hapless firms with penalty notices and, even better, has still not told them how to pay what they owe!

A senior executive within the tax department of a listed multinational company, who asked not to be named, told the Telegraph that the first he knew about his £6m VAT instalment being rejected was when the firm received a late payment notice.

“Our payment is now nearly a month overdue and we have still not received instruction from HMRC on how to pay. The way they have handled it is so shambolic, I would not be surprised if this is a much wider issue.

These cases may just be the tip of the iceberg as although there was some advance notice in a couple of HMRC publications, those notices did not include the vital IBAN number businesses need to make payments."

A HMRC spokesperson said: 

“HMRC’s move to a new bank will be invisible to most customers, who will not need to do anything different when sending payment to HMRC. Customers paying from overseas will need to update their payment details. Anyone experiencing difficulties in making payments should contact HMRC immediately.”

"Piss up" and "brewery" spring to mind!

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 Loses £75M on Phones4U

The FT reports that approximatley £170m owed to unsecured creditors in collapsed mobile phone retailer Phones4U will be almost entirely wiped out.

Unsecured creditors to the retail chain are owed about £168m but are only likely to receive 0.4p for every pound, PwC said. These include HMRC, which is owed about £75m in VAT and corporation tax.

However, creditors who own Phones4U’s £430m worth of senior secured notes, which are listed on the Irish stock exchange, “may recover” 20 per cent to 24 per cent of their money, as their debt ranks higher up the legal ladder for repayment priority in an insolvency.

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"

Corporation Tax Refund Delays

Figures obtained by UHY Hacker Young show that HMRC paid out £4.6BN to businesses in refunds for corporation tax last year. However, there appear to be delays in making these payments.

Approximately 286,000 businesses received a corporation tax rebate in the year to 31 March 2013, equivalent to an average refund in overpaid tax of more than £16,000 each. The norm for repayments to be received is around 2 to 3 months. However, some can take between 12 to 24 months.

Roy Maugham, tax partner at UHY Hacker Young, is quoted by Accountancy Live:

"UK businesses are still finding that they are overpaying their corporation tax in the billions of pounds. It shows how important it is for companies to regularly review any overpayment of tax as HMRC will not be looking to see if it owes them money."

Referring to the delays, he said:

"This can make the burden for companies struggling with unexpected losses or lower than anticipated revenues even heavier. It’s not unheard of for some to simply fold under the pressure in the meantime, as cashflow dries up.

Given that the number of rebates has been falling in the last few years, HMRC should be getting quicker but this doesn’t seem to be happening in reality."

I would be interested to hear from people about their experiences of obtaining a refund of overpaid corporation tax.

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"

Corporation Tax Yield From Investigations Falls

The FT reports that HMRC's large-business service, which deals with the 770 largest UK  businesses, collected an extra £3.17bn in tax in 2012-13 from its investigations, an 8% drop from £3.44bn the year before – and a 25% drop on 2010-11. 

 

HMRC quite rightly have pointed out that the yield fluctuated because it involved a relatively small number of cases that were responsible for a large proportion of revenues and the time to resolve issues was uncertain, particularly if litigation was involved.

“HMRC’s job is to enforce the large-business tax rules as passed by parliament. We do this extremely effectively, bringing in £23bn additional revenues from large businesses since 2010 alone. 

HMRC exceeded its target for additional revenue raised from large businesses as a whole in 2012/13 and we have year-on-year increases in our targets for the next two years. The actual amount of yield will naturally fluctuate from year to year, depending particularly on major cases where inquiries are ongoing.”

Naturally the yield will vary from year to year, HMRC is not a commercial enterprise that seeks to increase its revenue each year.

Sadly, thanks to the ongoing political campaign waged by those who should know better about companies paying a mythical "fair share" of tax and the general hysteria in the media whipped up by those who know nothing about corporation tax, HMRC will doubtlessly be unfairly and wrongly criticised for the fall in yield.

The reality is that as tax is reduced, as corporation tax has been, so is the incentive for companies to engage in "aggressive tax planning".

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"

Starbucks Wars

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

1 On what basis have they derived this figure?

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

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

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

5 Since when did HMRC accept "voluntary" donations?

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

HMRC is quite right when it said:

"Corporation tax is not a voluntary tax and Parliament sets out the rules and rates for businesses to follow. The public expects businesses to pay their fair share and HMRC will challenge, through the courts if necessary, any structures or tax payments that do not comply with the UK tax law."

I have no qualms about companies or individuals seeking to reduce their tax liabilities (legally). However, wrt Starbucks and its bizarre announcement I would suggest that HMRC tells them to stuff it and to go in and conduct a root and branch audit of their tax affairs without delay (ie audit the hell out of them!).

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

This stinks!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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

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

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

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"