HMRC Review Clears MP James McMurdock

 

All of you long-suffering taxpayers still waiting years for your own refunds, dodging phantom penalties, or getting chased for returns you’ve already filed. 

Spare a wry chuckle for James McMurdock, the MP who’s just had his tax affairs given the full once-over by HMRC; and walked away not only cleared, but with a nice little refund in his pocket.

Mr McMurdock, the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, faced intense media and public scrutiny over the past year regarding his former businesses. This included questions around past company activities and eligibility for COVID-era Bounce Back Loans. As part of this process, his tax affairs and business records underwent examination by HMRC.

In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), the MP described the outcome as vindication:

"The letter I recently received from HMRC confirmed, after their careful review, that they, in fact, owed me a refund."

 

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Hypocritical Wanker Alert

Celebrity antisemite Lineker, along with some other millionaires, is calling for HMRC to make them pay more tax.

All very noble you might think, except for the fact that a few years ago Lineker went into battle against a tax bill from HMRC. 

Lineker, the former England footballer and Match of the Day presenter, operated as a freelancer through his partnership, Gary Lineker Media (GLM). HMRC pursued him for around £4.9 million in alleged unpaid income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC) for work with the BBC and BT Sport between 2013–2014 and 2017–2018.

HMRC argued that he should be treated as an employee under IR35 (off-payroll working rules), meaning his partnership structure was an "intermediary" and he owed extra tax as if employed directly by the broadcasters. Lineker maintained he was a genuine freelancer who had paid all appropriate taxes.

Outcome

• In March 2023, the First-tier Tribunal ruled decisively in Lineker’s favour. Judge John Brooks found that because Lineker had direct contracts with the BBC and BT Sport (not routed through a qualifying intermediary in the way IR35 requires), the IR35 rules "do not, and cannot as a matter of law, apply." The tribunal set aside HMRC’s demands.
• HMRC appealed but withdrew the appeal in late 2024, shortly before an Upper Tribunal hearing, and settled the case.

Result: Lineker avoided the £4.9m bill. He confirmed he had not failed to pay any taxes or NIC due to IR35. The case turned on a technical contractual point rather than a full employment status test.

This was a notable win for Lineker after a multi-year fight and highlighted complexities in IR35 application for high-profile freelancers with direct client relationships.

Anyhoo, if he and his buddies want to pay more tax there is nothing stopping them: 

 

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HMRC Tax Investigations Taking Up To Eight Bloody Years

 

HMRC Tax Investigations Taking Up To Eight Bloody Years – MPs Slam the Taxman’s Endless Dithering

Still waiting for HMRC to get their act together?

While the taxman loves slapping you with automatic penalties for filing a day late, it turns out their own investigations can drag on for the best part of a decade.

The Public Accounts Committee has rightly slammed HMRC for cases taking up to eight years to resolve. Eight years! That’s not an investigation, that’s a slow-motion torture session for the poor sods stuck in limbo. Businesses left hanging, cashflow destroyed, growth choked, while HMRC faffs about “gathering evidence” at a pace that would make a snail look speedy.

MPs are warning that the public is being left completely in the dark about whether these long-running disputes are being settled fairly. No transparency, no accountability, just endless uncertainty. Perfect.

This is the same shambolic outfit that:

• Can’t answer the phone without putting you through an hour of Vivaldi
• Harasses 93-year-old terminally ill veterans over returns they’ve already filed
• Spends £186 million to recover £44 million on the Loan Charge
• Forces quarterly MTD reporting while their own systems remain a joke

Yet when it comes to their own enquiries (especially the big, complex ones involving serious money) they’re happy to let cases rumble on for years. Meanwhile, you’re expected to respond to their information requests in days or face penalties.

The PAC is urging HMRC to get a grip and speed things up. About bloody time someone said it. These delays aren’t just inconvenient, they’re damaging real businesses, destroying livelihoods, and eroding any remaining trust in the system.

Tax does have to be taxing.

But leaving people and companies in investigation hell for up to eight years while demanding instant compliance from everyone else? That’s not taxing, that’s bureaucratic sadism and a national disgrace.

Sort it out, HMRC. Or better yet, stop starting so many enquiries you can’t finish in a reasonable timeframe.

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HMRC’s Annual Report 2025/26

 

HMRC’s Annual Report 2025/26: Record Tax Haul, Shiny Digital Stats, But The Same Old Customer Service Shambles

HMRC has just dropped its 329-page annual report for 2025/26, and true to form, they’re out there blowing their own trumpet while the rest of us choke on the reality.

They collected a whopping £966.4 billion in tax — that’s £90.4 billion more than the previous year. Compliance yield smashed through £50 billion for the first time. Digital interactions are up to 78%. They’ve hired more compliance officers. Everything’s going swimmingly, right?

Bollocks!

Scratch beneath the glossy headlines and the strains are bleeding through everywhere. Yes, they’re raking in more cash (largely thanks to Reeves’ stealth taxes, frozen thresholds, and employer NI hikes) but the basics that actually matter to real people remain an absolute disgrace.

Customer service? Still in the toilet. They only managed to answer 85.1% of calls (one in seven went unanswered), with average wait times of over 12 minutes. They’re proudly pushing everyone towards webchats and the “highly successful” HMRC app while real human help remains a distant dream. This is the same department that hangs up on Self Assessment deadline day and harasses 93-year-old terminally ill veterans.

Tax debt sits at £44.7 billion. They’re resolving more of it, sure, but it’s still a monumental pile of unpaid tax while they chase pensioners for peanuts. The tax gap? Still hovering around £60 billion. Small businesses (the ones actually trying to grow) remain the biggest contributors to the gap — funny how that works when HMRC makes compliance such a nightmare.

R&D tax relief errors and fraud are so bad the accounts had to be qualified again. Yet they’re happy to sit on legitimate startup R&D claims for months, leaving businesses £95k out of pocket.

The transformation roadmap? More MTD misery, more AI toys (£175m with Quantexa), more digital-first bullshit while the phone lines stay broken and trust collapses. Only 70% of small businesses trust HMRC. For individuals it’s even worse, over half don’t trust them at all.

This report perfectly exposes the HMRC delusion: they’re getting better at squeezing more tax out of us, but utterly failing at basic service, fairness, and competence.

Tax does have to be taxing.

But when HMRC crows about record revenues and digital progress while the public endures endless delays, incompetence, and contempt? That’s not taxing — that’s institutional arrogance funded by your money.

Well done on the big numbers, lads. Now try answering the bloody phone.

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Monthly Tax Bills For The Self Employed - A Disaster Waiting To Happen!

 

Labour is examining plans which would require self‑employed workers and landlords to pay tax every month from April 2030, in a major shift to how millions manage their finances.

Under the proposals, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) would calculate monthly payments using an individual’s previous year’s tax return.

The reforms are expected to apply only to those earning above a threshold that has not yet been set. 

This will be a monumental clusterfuck! 

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Over 580,000 Not Yet Signed Up To MTD

 

Over 580,000 self-employed workers and landlords have yet to sign up for HMRC's Making Tax Digital for Income Tax scheme, despite less than a month remaining before the August 7 registration deadline.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that of the 864,000 people required to register for the scheme by April 6 this year, only 282,637 had signed up by May 20.

The figures, obtained by international accountancy firm Azets and confirmed by HMRC, show that around two-thirds of those required to join the new digital tax system had not yet registered when the data was compiled.

 Good luck everyone! 

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