HMRC Failure To Help

The Low Incomes Tax Reforms Group (LITRG) have recently issued a warning about tax credit changes.

As from 6 April 2012, HMRC will stop working tax credit (WTC) for most couples with children who do not work at least 24 hours a week between them. This includes some who will still be entitled to tax credits from 6 April, because they are covered by one of the exceptions to this rule.

LITRG note that HMRC have failed to tell these claimants that they must contact them by 6 April if one of those exceptions applies to them.

Under the current rules, a couple with children qualify for WTC if one person works at least 16 hours a week. As from 6 April, couples with children will be required to work at least 24 hours between them, with one person working at least 16 hours a week in order to continue to qualify for WTC.

However, there are a number of exceptions to this new requirement. Anyone who qualifies for WTC in another way should continue to receive WTC by working at least 16 hours a week from April 2012. This applies to people who:

• are aged 60 or over, or
• qualify for the disability element of WTC.

There are four other situations where the new 24 hour rule will not apply. One person only needs to work at least 16 hours if the other person is:

• incapacitated (meaning they are in receipt of certain benefits due to ill health),
• an inpatient in hospital,
• in prison, or
• entitled to carer’s allowance.

In November 2011, HMRC wrote to some 280,000 claimants telling them about changes to working tax credit from April 2012.

The letter (TC 1139) fully explained the change for couples, and listed all the exceptions to the new requirement that were known at that time.

However, HMRC left one rather important piece of information off from that letter; namely that for tax credits to continue from 6 April, claimants covered by one of the exceptions must contact HMRC.

Failure to contact HMRC will result in WTC payments being stopped as from 6 April.

LITRG note that HMRC have a duty under their Charter to ‘help and support you get things right’. This includes providing information that helps claimants understand what they have to do and when they have to do it.

In LITRG's view HMRC have failed to do that in this instance, and as a result some of the lowest paid most vulnerable claimants may miss out on payments.


Tax does have to be taxing.

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The Unworkable Pasty Tax

Good luck to HMRC in trying to make George Osborne's pasty tax workable in the real world.

Ken McMeikan, Chief Executive of Greggs, writing in The Northerner said:

"Under the Chancellor's proposals, any food that is sold "above ambient air temperature" will become subject to VAT, whilst those products that are served "at or below ambient air temperature" will not be. This will mean that some savouries will become subject to VAT depending on how long after they are taken out of the oven they happen to be sold.

This will create enormous complications and confusion for our staff and our customers. We sell over 300m savouries a year, and we strongly believe that legislation that requires us to determine the temperature of the product before it is sold is unworkable."

Wee Georgie and his chums don't really have to worry about such matters, because they eat pasties that are subsidised by the taxpayer.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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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"

HMRC Online Service Availability

It seems that Phil Pavitt will have a very busy Easter, as there are a number of system upgrades going on in HMRC.

Services will be limited or unavailable between 21.00 on 8 April to 6.00 on 11 April 2012

HMRC’s online services will be closed over Easter for planned system upgrades.

All services will be affected including VAT, corporation tax, self assessment, PAYE and tax credits.

HMRC Online Services will start to close from 21.00 on Thursday 5 April and will remain closed until Wednesday 11 April 2012.

However, not all services will be completely unavailable throughout that period. For example, it will still be possible to submit self assessment returns using commercial software except for a short period (Sunday afternoon), though there will be a delay in getting the electronic acknowledgement.

It is advisable to check the downtime for the particular online service you plan to use. Details for each of them can be found at HMRC Online Services

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"

Protocol

Taxation reports that the government have issued a new protocol on unscheduled tax changes, which a.o. notes that changes to HMRC's interpretation of tax legislation will not be regarded as legally significant unless they have been prompted by court rulings.

"The government has made clear its aim to strike the right balance between restoring the UK tax system's reputation for predictability, stability and simplicity and preserving its ability to protect the Exchequer by making changes where necessary. In particular, changes to tax legislation where the change takes effect from a date earlier than the date of announcement will be wholly exceptional.

Ministers undertake to observe the following criteria when considering a change to tax law which will:

• be announced other than at Budget; and
• take effect before the legislation implementing the change is enacted.

Such changes to tax law will normally only be announced other than at Budget where:

• there would otherwise be a significant risk to the Exchequer;
• significant new information has emerged to identify the risk or indicate its scale; and
• changing the law immediately is expected to prevent significant losses to the Exchequer.

Announcements will usually take the form of a written ministerial statement to Parliament before 2pm.

Legislative changes announced in this way will be confined to addressing the risk to the Exchequer that has been identified. A change in HMRC's interpretation of the law (unless prompted by a court ruling) will not be regarded as “significant new information”.

Where ministers believe that such a change is justified, the process will be as follows:

• a minister will make a public announcement of the intention to change the law and make clear that the change will take effect before the legislation is enacted;
• the public announcement will be accompanied by the technical detail necessary to amount to a sufficiently clear warning of the nature of the change and its timing;
• HMRC will publish the written ministerial statement and draft clauses on the HMRC website as soon as practicable after the announcement to Parliament. If, exceptionally, draft clauses cannot be published on the day of the announcement, a detailed technical note explaining the nature of the proposed change and the reasons for it will accompany the announcement; and
• legislation to give the measure effect will be included in the next available Finance Bill.

While the government will not invite comment on the intention to legislate, the nature of the change or on its timing, it will consult after the announcement to establish whether the draft legislation would achieve its objective and change the law as intended. Subject to the risk of forestalling, consideration will be given to consulting informally in confidence before an announcement is made.

As part of the normal Budget process, the Office for Budget Responsibility will scrutinise the estimates of Exchequer impact associated with any change to tax policy."

Let's see how well this works then!

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"

HMRC Tax Degree

HMRC has been feeling the heat recently wrt negative publicity over their handling of a number of issues (eg tax deals with Vodafone, Goldman Sachs and losing the Harry Redknapp trial.

Therefore HMRC has decided to sharpen up its act and, in a joint venture with Manchester Metropolitan University, send some of its staff to university (or rather training centres across the UK) to study for a degree.

The part time course for a degree in tax is expected to yield £2M to £3M in extra tax revenues per graduate over four years.

How on earth do they come up with that figure?

Anyhoo, the staff studying for the degree (expected to total around 400-500) will not have to pay for it (unlike other university students).

Students will also be able to study tax courses up to the equivalent of A-level or a Higher National Certificate, accredited by the Association of Accounting Technicians.

Dave Hartnett, HMRC Permanent Secretary for Tax, said:

“We know we have great people doing great work that deserves to be recognised. We want to be seen as a leader in tax, both in the UK and internationally, and the launch of the Tax Academy is a really important step towards that goal.”

Does anyone know how the figures of £2M-£3M have been derived/calculated, or what grades of staff will be allowed to study for the degree?

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"

Size Matters!

Congratulations to George Osborne for outdoing himself this year, with the size of the Finance Bill 2012.

It weighs in at a stonking 686 pages (across three volumes, 227 sections and 38 schedules.), the largest in history.

How the fuck are HMRC and other tax professionals meant to work their way through that and understand it?

Was it not the policy of this government to simplify taxes?

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"