Government Declares War On Avoidance

Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, told parliament the other day:

"This Government will not tolerate tax avoidance or tax evasion in any form, and will act promptly to tackle both of these."

Same old goverment spin of linking avoidance with evasion:

1 Avoidance is legal, taxpayers have every right to arrange their affairs (legally) so as to minimise their payments to the state.

2 What exactly is "avoidance in any form"? The use of ISA's? Tax planning?

Timms has set himself quite a task, I wonder if he is legally, or intellectually, capable of living up to his statement?

I wonder if his fellow MPs, many of whom practice tax avoidance themselves, are in a position to support him?

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"

Spin

The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Timms, is quoted in Accountancy Age:

"This Government will not tolerate tax avoidance or tax evasion in any form, and will act promptly to tackle both of these."

Lumping tax avoidance with tax evasion is part of the ongoing game of media spin and manipulation being played by the government and HMRC, to make people think of them as the same.

They are not the same!

Like it or not, tax avoidance is legitimate and will be with us as long as there are taxes.

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"

Lessons In Morality From Nu Labour

I see that Stephen Timms is making it very clear in all orifices of the media that in his, and the government's view, tax avoidance is immoral.

Using emotive words such as "rob" and "cheat" to describe tax avoiders, thus implying that tax avoidance is illegal, he signalled that Labour will now be going on the offensive over this issue.

Here are a few thoughts on the matter:

1 It is perfectly reasonable, sensible, moral and pragmatic to do your utmost to reduce your tax liability legally. Tax avoidance is a legal way to reduce tax liabilities (whether it be a complex scheme devised by lawyers/accountants, or simply using an ISA).

2 Tax avoidance is not an issue of morality.

3 During the years of plenty, Labour chose not to close the so called tax avoidance "loopholes" that they are now screaming about. Why did they sit on their hands then, if this is such an important issue?

3 This is merely a way for Labour to pass the blame, and take the heat off their own economic mismanagement, onto others for the fact that the country is now bankrupt.

During the years "of plenty" Brown had the chance to build up some reserves that could have eased the pain now. He chose instead to "spend, spend, spend", leaving nothing for the "rainy day". To try to blame tax avoiders for this failure in economic management is hypocritical.

4 MPs are not in a position to lecture the rest of the population on the subject of "morality", given their own "shortcomings" in this area (eg house flipping -Darling has flipped his four times in four years to make the most of his allowances, tax evasion, claiming the full cost of mortgage payments etc).

5 Labour is happy to consort and cavort with tax avoiders, eg it gave tax exile Philip Green a knighthood, surely he is an "immoral" person by their definition?

6 Many of the tax havens that Labour are so angst ridden over are actually still part of the rump of empire, as such we do have more than a little influence over them. Shouldn't they have tackled this issue many years ago, if it really is of such importance?

7 Tax avoiders have not bankrupted Britain. Brown's bankrupt Britain is entirely of his own making. No matter what extra tax Labour think they will be able to derive from their new found "moral crusade", it will be a drop in the ocean wrt balancing the books.

8 Lloyds the government funded bank offers tax avoidance advice to its clients.

Lessons in morality should not be delivered by hypocrites.

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"

Simple!

Errmm...here is a story as per Tax-News.com.

Seemingly a 13 year project undertaken by HMRC to rewrite tax law (with the objective of making it easier to understand) is soon to come to a close.

Well, Timms is impressed and notes that "direct tax legislation is now far more accessible and easier to apply..."

What say you "Joe Public"?

After 13 years of activity, the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Tax Law Rewrite Project is to end next year, the Treasury has announced.

Launched in 1996, the project is responsible for rewriting direct tax legislation, to make it clearer and easier for users to understand.

“The Tax Law Rewrite project has played a key role in modernising our tax legislation and its work has rightly been widely praised,” commented Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury. "The mainstream direct tax legislation is now far more accessible and easier to apply than the legislation that went before and when the project’s next two Bills are enacted, the time will be right to bring this work to an end.

Since its creation, the project has resulted in 6 pieces of legislation and tax regulations being rewritten, including: The Capital Allowances Act 2001; The Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003; The Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005; The Income Tax Act 2007; The Corporation Tax Act 2009; and The PAYE Regulations.

The main goals of the project are to reproduce tax legislation in a clearer, more logical tax structure with use of plain language while attempting not to alter the main tax policies.

A high level Steering Committee, chaired by Lord Newton of Braintree, oversees the project. A Consultative Committee, consisting of representative bodies and other interested parties, also meets on a regular basis to consider issues and the draft legislation in more detail.

“With the completion of the project’s work, legislation for the mainstream direct taxes will now be much easier for users to navigate and understand,” Timms continued. “This is a very significant achievement and I am grateful for the contribution of everyone involved in it.”

The second Corporation Tax Bill and the Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Bill, which rewrites provisions that deal mainly with international taxation issues, is expected to be enacted in the spring of 2010.

Work currently on hand will be completed by the end of 2009/10, with only minor amendments to existing rewritten legislation to be undertaken after that, the Treasury informed.

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"

Pay Freeze?

Stephen Timms, the Treasury Minister, has said the government will soon make a pay decision wrt HMRC staff.

He has not ruled out a freeze on salary levels.

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"

Some Signs of Encouragement

Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said that the results of the recent HMRC staff survey showed "some signs of encouragement".

So that's alright then!

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"

Security Matters? - II

Stephen Timms, the financial secretary to the Treasury, has told the Commons that there have been 11,266 security breaches at HMRC since it was formed in 2005.

The breaches, according to Timms, cover "a wide range" including; unlocked cupboards, losses, theft, suspicious behaviour and vandalism.

I guess this one was on the list as well?

"Did you hear the one about the lady who attended a Data Security Workshop held at an HMRC building?

Apparently sitting through both the morning afternoon sessions, and enjoying the departmental coffee and sandwiches, she obviously found it all to be a worthwhile exercise.

The fact that she was actually a member of the public, who had mistakenly wandered in to the building, only came to light when the facilitator asked everyone present to hold up their Data Security booklet, and of course the lady had to admit that she hadn't actually been given one.

You couldn't make it up."

Tax does have to be taxing.

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"

Time To Pay

Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the Treasury, has said that over 60,000 businesses have agreed time to pay tax arrangements with HMRC totalling more than £1BN.

Firms must pay interest on the outstanding amount. However, they can avoid extra penalty charges. Late payments for income tax, national insurance contributions and capital gains tax are charged at 3.5%, corporation tax is charged at at 2.5%.

The average deferral time is between three to six months.

These arrangements are of some benefit to small firms in particular, who are experiencing difficulties obtaining credit during the current recession/depression.

Let us trust that as and when HMRC outsource its debt collection activities and sell on its outstanding debt to private debt collection agencies, these private agencies are equally forgiving of the delays in settling the debts.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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"

Cost Control?

Poor old Stephen Timms (Treasury minister) is having a rather rough week this week, having first signed off on the secret VAT increase he now has been forced to admit to parliament that HMRC has no accurate cost estimates over the 25 major IT projects that they are running.

Best guess estimates are that these projects are costing the taxpayer at least £197M, small money compared with the billions that the government has risked on bailing out various banks etc.

In a parliamentary written answer Timms said:

"Many of our IT projects are at an early stage in their development lifecycle, and detailed technical solutions and IT supplier costs are yet to be established.

The figures shown below are therefore estimates and remain subject to revision, finalisation and formal investment approval."

That's all very well, but other departments have managed to provide more accurate estimates for their IT projects, and the private sector obtains cost estimates and project specifications before going ahead with projects.

Why can't HMRC?

Tax does have to be taxing.

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 Secret VAT Increase - Darling Tells a Porky?

In an emergency Commons debate on the pre-Budget today, Chancellor Alistair Darling said that Stephen Timms', the financial secretary to the Treasury, name had ended up on the web document outlining the 18.5% VAT rate by mistake.

Darling claimed Timms had not seen it, or authorised it.

Ahem!

The Guardian says that the web document contained Timms' signature.

Is Darling saying that Timms signs documents that he doesn't read?

Tax does have to be taxing.

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 Secret VAT Increase

Gordon "Smiler" Brown and his Darling Chancellor were somewhat humiliated yesterday, when it emerged that they had been planning to increase VAT to 18.5% in 2011.

This embarrassing plan was revealed when a document signed by Stephen Timms, a junior Treasury Minister, was published on a government website. The hard copy version, also signed by Timms, shows no VAT rate of 18.5%.

The web version has now been removed.

Now here is where the politicians seek to cover their shame. Treasury minister Angela Eagle said that the publication had been:

"..a pure administrative error on the part of HM Revenue and Customs.

For anyone to think it is anything else is complete scaremongering and opportunism of the worst sort."

HMRC stated (as per the Guardian) that the VAT increase had been a fully worked-up option, that had been ditched at the last moment in favour of the 45% tax rate on those earning more than £150,000.

I am of the view that the buck should stop with the people who claim to be in charge of HMRC. Given that these plans were discussed at Treasury level, and signed off by a Treasury Minister, then the responsibility for the dissemination of the "correct" plans lies with the Treasury.

This is not an HMRC cock up, but a Treasury cock up; for Eagle and her colleagues to "rat out" HMRC in this way is a pretty lousy trick. However, many politicians are pretty lousy anyway.

Doubtless some poor sap in HMRC will be ritually sacrificed to protect the "honour" of the Treasury.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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"