HMRC says one million people have missed the January 31 self assessment tax return deadline, and will now face an automatic £100 fine.
Let joy be untrammelled!
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"
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)
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"
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"
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"
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.
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"
