HMRC Offices To Be Converted Into Flats

Insider Media Limited reports that HMRC's base in Solihull is set to be transformed into a major apartment project after plans were given the green light by the borough council. It comes as HMRC relocates its West Midlands offices to Birmingham's Arena Central scheme.

Consort House, Royal House and Regent House in Princes Gate, off Homer Road, are to be converted into 100 apartments.

Permission for the work on the buildings, which are located near Solihull Train Station just outside the town centre, has been secured by applicant Princes Gate Solihull Estates.

HMRC said in 2015 that its regional office will close in 2019/2020.
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 Cosies Up To HSBC in Birmingham HQ

Work has started on the second building to be developed at the Arena Central project in Birmingham city centre.

3 Arena Central will be home to staff from HM Revenue & Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions after a 25-year lease deal was struck last year for the entire 14-storey building.

There will be more than 3,600 civil servants based there by 2020 where they will join the new head office of HSBC UK on the development.

Steven Boyd, estates director for HMRC, is quoted by the Birmingham Post:

"This is an important milestone in the delivery of the Government Hub in Birmingham, which will be the new home for HMRC in the West Midlands.

When it is built, the new building will mean our staff can work in a modern and bright environment, while working collaboratively with other teams, to increase our effectiveness in collecting taxes."

I wonder if, when he made the comment about increasing HMRC's effectiveness, he had in the back of his mind HMRC's proximity to HSBC?

For reference:

HSBC tax avoidance scandal: Timeline of Britain's biggest banking leak

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 Pisses Off MP For Bootle

Peter Dowd MP  for Bootle is more than a little pissed off with HMRC.

For why?

It seems that HMRC did not brief him ahead of the announcement that the town’s tax office was set to close.

The ECHO reports that early yesterday HMRC confirmed that it will close its Triad centre in Bootle, and that all staff will move to a new “super call centre” at the Grade II*-listed India Buildings in Liverpool city centre .

Peter Dowd, who has spoken out against the proposed move in the past, said:

“I am furious that I have had to learn of such an important decision from the ECHO. I later checked my emails and discovered that a letter from HMRC chief executive John Thompson was sent to me at around lunchtime today.

But that is still not good enough. I would like to point out that I am also shadow chief secretary to the treasury, and this decision fell well within my brief. I would have liked a bit of notice ahead of an announcement that is so important to my constituency.”

Staff will start moving from the landmark Triad building on Stanley Road to the India building from 2019. Workers from other HMRC regional centres will also move to the India building on Water Street.

HMRC's communications found wanting?

Quelle surprise!

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"

Joining The Dots of HMRC's Property Deals

Unsurprisingly, yesterday's article about HMRC's very expensive superhub in Cardiff has raised a few eyebrows and issues.

My thanks to a loyal reader for posting the following comment that highlights a few dots that need to be joined:

"Whoa there pilgrim, just a cotton picking minute, let's take a closer look at this afore ye spend all that "customer's" money!?

Who owns the Llanishen site? Thought Mapely did as per Wales On Line 13 Nov 2015 - The freehold interest in the current HMRC office site at Llanishen is owned by Mapeley Estates, following a private finance initiative agreement ...????

Surely that was why HMRC was paying for rent etc. on the site?

Then there is the matter of £20m (currently) for fitting out, so the lease is bare building? This is (currently) £5000/head just to fit out! WTF they having 22" plasma screens, gold plated loo's, FFS?! Piss off to IKEA, just a mile or 2 down the road and save yourself a few million!

Transport/parking infrastructure - all of a sudden 4.000 extra staff plus security, cleaners, deliveries etc. land upon the centre of Cardiff via train, bus, car, pedal, foot. Bloody trains have to queue now outside the station and Cardiff traffic is a nightmare for public and private transport.

Who is actually paying for this "range of benefits to people in Cardiff" ? Oh, that's all right then, it is only the end user that has to worry then, come back in 5 years time and see how much the real cost has reached!

Given the appalling track record of previous estate deals in this part of the public sector this needs a wee dig by an investigative journo' to establish VFM and whether basic business checks have been applied to such an amount of "customer expenditure".

Oh, yes, as these Muppets no longer FTF with their "customer" base, why the need for an expensive central location - vanity? Is there a common purpose associated with the development that remains hidden?

Answers on the back of a postage stamp please."

Oh, and don't forget (as per WalesOnline):

"The freehold interest in the current HMRC office site at Llanishen is owned by Mapeley Estates, following a private finance initiative agreement with the UK government. 

But that deal will expire around 2020. The land would then revert into UK government ownership."

2020 being the year that HMRC moves to its superhub.

There's irony for 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"

HMRC Signs Largest Ever Office Deal In Wales

HMRC have made the record books in Wales, for agreeing the largest office deal ever seen in Wales.

HMRC will move to a new headquarters in the centre of Cardiff - at the heart of a new public sector hub that will employ 4,000.

HMRC, which currently has its main tax office in Wales in the Llanishen area of Cardiff, has signed up to a new 266,000 sq ft building in a major pre-let deal which marks the next phase of development at the Central Square regeneration scheme in the centre of the capital.

WalesOnline reports that it is scheduled for completed in late 2019, with HMRC moving into its new offices from 2020.

The 12 storey building will be known as 6 Central Square. It will be built by construction firm Robert McAlpine. However, there is the small matter of planning consent for the £100m project. A determination is expected next month.

The move will allow HMRC to sell its existing site in Llanishen for redevelopment, potentially for a housing led regeneration scheme. Some 3,600 HMRC staff (full-time equivalent) will be based in the HQ.

HMRC has agreed a 25-year lease for its new building at Central Square. It is understood there is no break clause and the rent - starting at around £16 a sq ft per annum - will be subject to rent reviews based on the then retail prices index measure of inflation every five years.

HMRC is also forward committing £20m to the fitout of the building.

Once completed the building's ownership with transfer to L&G's pension arm - for what is a prized investment asset, due to the strong covenant provided by a government organisation over 25-years with no break clause.

Minister for Government Resilience and Efficiency, Caroline Nokes, said:

“This Government is committed to delivering the best quality public services in every corner of the UK, and today’s announcement is an important step towards that.

This new lease is great news for Cardiff, and will deliver a range of benefits to people in Cardiff, from improved public space and transport to better access to the Principality Stadium from the station.”

Let us trust that the rent that HMRC pays is "reasonable" when compared to similar properties/locations. Let us also trust that the building remains fit for purpose for the expected 25 year rental period!


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 Now Moving Into Croydon Hub

HMRC staff have begun moving into 1 Ruskin Square, Croydon, as from 24 July.

CCH Daily reports that HMRC will occupy building one at Ruskin Square in Croydon on a 25-year lease. Building one is the first structure to have been completed with over 180,000 sq. ft. of office space.

The 600 HMRC staff who are already based in Croydon will be part of the move to the new regional hub.

HMRC said:

"As part of our transformation programme, the existing Croydon office will be closing by late 2017 and staff will relocate to the new regional centre development.

It is a new building and part of the Ruskin Square development in Croydon next to East Croydon station. It has been chosen for its easy-to-reach location, with excellent transport links and quick access to Central London and a design which will provide HMRC with the digital infrastructure required by a modern tax authority."

Good luck to all who sail in her!

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"

Welcome To Croydon - HMRC Regional Hub Summer Opening

HMRC has confirmed that it will move staff into its first regional hub in Croydon in south London this summer and plans to open the remaining 12 regional centres by 2022.

In a statement HMRC are quoted by CCH:

‘We are now very close to being able to announce the locations of a number of our regional centres – and we expect to have announced the majority of them by the end of the summer.

The nature of negotiations means that it is difficult to provide an exact date.

We have promised our staff that we will tell them first of the location as soon as we are able to, but we plan to provide updates too.’

Ironically the headquarters of HMRC will remain in Whitehall!

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 Staff In Dundee To Be Moved

Last week it emerged that 34 HMRC employees working at the offices at Caledonian House in Greenmarket were offered voluntary redundancy.

CCH reports that the ‘majority’ of HMRC workers in Dundee will be moved elsewhere in the city as part of a wider overhaul of staffing in the tax authority’s offices,

An HMRC spokesperson said:

‘HMRC has been working hard to avoid compulsory redundancies since we first announced that offices would be closing in November 2015.

On 22 June, we launched a voluntary redundancy scheme for people currently working in offices due to close between December 2017 and March 2018.

Every person in these offices has had the opportunity to hold a one-to-one meeting with their manager to look at whether they can move to another HMRC office. The people being offered voluntary redundancy are those who, following the one-to-one discussions, are confirmed as being outside of reasonable daily travel of another HMRC office.’ 

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 Property Plans Are Shite - It's Official

The Public Accounts Committee has poured scorn on HMRC's "plans" to save more than £500m by condensing its sprawling office estate into just a handful of giant hubs.

PAC doesn't think that the 10-year scheme to reduce HMRC’s 170 offices to 13 regional bases in city centres, along with four specialist centres and a London headquarters will deliver the expected economies.

PAC also noted that closing down offices would damage local economies, with some offices being major employers in the areas.

The Telegraph quoted PAC:

"HMRC has yet to demonstrate it has a realistic and affordable plan to deliver such a radical change to its estate, and we do not believe that it needs to be based in expensive cities across the UK”.

In other words the plans, if they exist, are shite!

PAC, for good measure, also warned about the effects on staff:

“It already experiences too high a level of staff turnover with 5,000 to 6,000 staff leaving a year and it will take time to recruit and train staff in new regional centres.”

HMRC said that it will "consider" the report.

Snort!

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 Moves To Barclays Canary Wharf

HMRC will be one of the government organisations moving staff out of Whitehall and into new offices in Canary Wharf.

The Cabinet Office announced last week that almost 6,000 full-time civil service and public sector jobs are to move from central London to 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf by 2018. The site will be leased from Barclays for 15 years.

Civil Service World notes that job ads posted on Civil Service Jobs in recent days make clear that HMRC will be one of those shifting staff across the capital.

"Please note that the London office (100 Parliament Street) will be moving to a transitional site in summer 2017.

The location will be 10 South Colonnade, London, E14 4PU."

Not everyone will move, an HMRC briefing note issued a while ago said:

"Of course, the work that we do means that a small number of us will always need to be near ministers.

That's why we're going to keep 100 Parliament Street, although fewer of us will work there. The space we vacate will be used by other government departments."

Fortunately, unlike other HMRC property contracts, HMRC does not face the embarrassment of dealing with a tax avoiding company. Barclays shut its tax avoidance unit in 2013.

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 Moves To India

Place North West reports that HMRC has selected India Buildings as the preferred location for its new Liverpool home, leasing the majority of the office space within the 350,000 sq ft landmark property.

In Liverpool, HMRC currently occupies Graeme House, Regian House, Imperial Court and The Triad in Bootle.

The grade two-listed India Buildings was sold in January by Green Property to Shelborn Asset Management for £17m, and at the time was 80% vacant.

India Buildings dominates Liverpool’s traditional office district and occupies an entire block at Water Street and Brunswick Street in the heart of the commercial centre. The gross internal floor area is 500,000 sq ft and includes the Holt’s shopping arcade on the ground floor.

Quoted rent at India Buildings is £16.50/sq ft. However, the building would be extensively refurbished both internally and externally in advance of HMRC taking occupancy.

Worthington Owen is the agent for India, while JLL is advising the Government on its estate strategy.

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"