Rayner's Lingering Tax Fiasco: HMRC's Glacial Probe Puts the Brakes on Her PM Ambitions While Starmer Dangles by a Thread

Morning tax slaves, you lot still reeling from your own HMRC nightmares – those trivial £50 demands, phantom penalties, or endless hold music that could drive a saint to sin?

Spare a wry chuckle for Angela Rayner, the firebrand former Deputy PM who's now twisting in the wind thanks to a £40k stamp duty dodge that's morphed into a full-blown HMRC investigation. Six months on, and the taxman is still "probing" away like a dentist with a blunt drill, leaving her political future hanging by the same gossamer thread as Keir Starmer's grip on Number 10.

Let's recap this sorry saga, shall we? Back in September 2025, our Angela splashed out on a swanky £800k three-bed flat in sunny Hove – the kind of seaside bolthole us plebs can only dream of while scraping together our self-assessments. She coughed up a measly £30k in stamp duty, claiming it as her main residence. But oh dear, those pesky "deeming provisions" from a family trust (set up for her disabled son, to be fair) meant she technically still "owned" her old gaff, triggering the higher second-home rate. Cue a £40k shortfall, admissions of "inaccurate legal advice" (from conveyancers who swear they never touched tax), and a hasty resignation as Deputy PM amid calls from the Tories to sack her.

She referred herself to the ethics watchdog, promised to pay up (plus interest, naturally), and HMRC duly launched a probe into whether this was mere "carelessness" (hello, penalties up to another £40k) or something spicier. Starmer backed her at the time, calling her "fantastic" and hinting at a comeback "at the right point." Fast-forward to February 2026: the investigation? Still grinding on, no end in sight. Allies are whinging about the "slow pace" delaying her grand return, while HMRC sits on its hands – the same outfit that hounds you for a day-late filing but takes half a year to sniff around a minister's mess.

And how's this torpedoing her shot at the top job? Starmer's wobbling like a jelly in a gale – thanks to the Lord Mandelson scandal and backbench mutterings – with MPs whispering he's "toast" and calls for him to chuck in the towel intensifying. Rayner's told pals she's "ready" to pounce, and the bookies have her as clear favourite at around 9/4 to snag the Labour leadership (and thus PM gig, assuming Labour clings to power). Polls of party members show she'd trounce Starmer 52% to 33% in a head-to-head, and 78% of recent bets are on her. She's got that working-class fire the base loves, and some dream of her teaming with Andy Burnham (though he's blocked from Westminster for now).

But here's the kicker: that unresolved HMRC cloud is the massive fly in her ointment. Allies fret she can't launch a clean bid while waiting for the taxman's verdict – potential fines, reprimands, or worse could torpedo her before takeoff. Voters remember her "very recent and unresolved tax scandal," and even left-wing MPs are wary of backing her with this hanging over. Wes Streeting's at 3/1 as a safer bet, and others like Yvette Cooper or Rachel Reeves lurk at longer odds. If HMRC clears her quick, she's golden with the members; if they drag it out or slap penalties, her "stateswomanlike" revolt against Starmer could fizzle into backbench obscurity.

Hypocrisy? Off the charts. This is the woman who skewered Tories over tax rows, now caught in her own web while HMRC – the same clowns who take years on your refunds but blitz you for trivia – lets it fester. If it was one of us, we'd be fined, interested, and forgotten. For the elite? Endless delays and second chances.

Tax does have to be taxing.
But when HMRC's slow-motion probe could crown or crush the next PM, it's not just taxing – it's a bloody national farce.

Amazon "Political Soap Opera Essentials" Suggestions
(affiliate links – because watching Westminster implode calls for popcorn)

• Popcorn Maker – for the Starmer downfall drama
• "Hypocrite" Mug – sip tea while pondering tax dodges
• Binoculars – spot the next leadership contender from afar
• Stress Ball Set – squeeze for every delayed HMRC update
• "Game of Thrones" Box Set – because Labour infighting makes Westeros look tame

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 BMW FOI

  

  

My thanks to a loyal reader who made an effort, via and FOI request, to try to get to the bottom of the "BMW Debate" that has been raging on this site a for a while now. 

He has forwarded me the answer from HMRC (see above).

I will leave him to comment as to what his next steps may, or may not be.

Again though, thanks for doing this! 

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"

Mandy's Tax Affairs

 

I assume someone will be looking into Mandy's tax affairs? 

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"

Happy Tax Self Assessment Deadline Day!

 

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 Will Now Keep Lines Open on Deadline Day

 

Following an outcry over its decision to close its phone lines on 31 January, HMRC has changed its mind.

HMRC will now provide the following.

• An enhanced webchat capacity will be available from 8am to 4pm to cover self assessment, agents, individuals who need extra support, bereavement services and the online services helpdesk.
• The self assessment phone line and online services helpdesk will be available from 9am to 4pm. The Association of Tax Technicians (ATT) has been advised that this will “not be a full self assessment helpline, but advisers will be able to answer common queries and, where needed, arrange a call back for more detailed support”.
• Its extra support team will be available, prioritising call-backs for vulnerable customers.

The Agent Dedicated Line will close on Friday 30 January 2026 at 6pm and reopen on Monday 2 February at 8am.

 

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 Deadline Day Hang-Up: Because Nothing Says "We're Here to Help" Like Cutting the Phones When 3.3 Million Returns Are Still Missing

Morning, you frantic filers still staring at blank self-assessment screens with the clock ticking down to 31 January like a doomsday device. HMRC has just dropped their latest masterclass in contempt for the taxpayer: for the first time ever, they’re shutting down the phone lines completely on self-assessment deadline day itself.

Yes, you read that right. On 31 January 2026 – the day millions of you are racing to file before midnight to avoid the £100 automatic penalty – HMRC will not answer a single call. No helpline, no adviser, no mercy. Friday 30 January is your absolute last chance to speak to a human being before the guillotine falls. After that? Silence. Dead air. The sound of your own blood pressure spiking.

With 3.3 million tax returns still outstanding just five days out (and counting), this isn’t a minor operational tweak. It’s a deliberate, brazen “sod off” to the very people who fund their salaries, their sick days, and their botched IT projects. They know the system crashes, the portal lags, the error messages multiply like rabbits, and millions wait until the last minute because life gets in the way. And their response? “Tough. We’re clocking off early.”

This is peak HMRC arrogance:

• They demand first-time accuracy from you or face penalties, while their own software still throws up glitches that would make a 1990s dial-up modem blush.
• They chase grannies for £47 trivial bills, but when 3.3 million people need urgent help on the most critical day of the tax year, the line goes dead.
• They’ve spent billions on “digital transformation” (remember Fujitsu?), yet can’t keep advisers on the phones for one extra day to prevent a tidal wave of late-filing penalties.
• They’ll happily slap on £100 fines, £10-a-day escalations, and now those shiny new penalty points – all while making it physically impossible to get advice when you need it most.

And let’s not pretend this is about “encouraging digital filing”. It’s about cost-cutting dressed up as policy. Fewer calls answered = fewer staff hours paid = more money for mandarins’ bonuses and diversity training consultants. Meanwhile, you’re left screaming into the void, hoping your return submits before the system bluescreens at 23:59.

If this was any other organisation – a bank, an airline, a utility – shutting customer service on the busiest, most stressful day of the year would trigger outrage, refunds, and heads rolling. But because it’s HMRC, and because they have the power to fine you for their own failures, they just shrug and carry on.

So here’s the grim reality for Friday 30 January: get through early, or get stuffed. And on Saturday 31st? You’re on your own, mate. File online if you can, pray the servers hold, and brace for the inevitable “technical difficulties” apology tweet at 00:01 on 1 February.

Tax does have to be taxing.
But deliberately hanging up on deadline day when millions are dangling by a thread? That’s not taxing – that’s torture.

Amazon “Last-Minute Self-Assessment Survival Kit” Suggestions

• Extra-Strength Painkillers – for the headache when the portal crashes
• Triple Espresso Ground Coffee – fuel for the all-nighter
• Noise-Cancelling Headphones – block out the panic (and imaginary hold music)
• “I Filed Before HMRC Hung Up” Mug – victory drink on 1 February
• Laptop Cooling Pad – because your machine will be screaming too

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"