The Dynamic Duo's Trip To India

In December I asked the following two questions:

"Why did Dave Hartnett, Permanent Secretary for Tax, fly business class to Mumbai at the beginning of December with Melissa Tatton (HMRC's Deputy Director of Business International) to participate in a third rate talking shop for Indian accountants and tax officials?

The four nights they spent in rooms on the executive floor of the five-star ITC Maratha Hotel in Mumbai would doubtless have been bearable, but was their trip really necessary?"

The Mail has come up with a few answers:

It seem that the trip cost us (the taxpayers) £8,400, and that for this outlay Hartnett and Tatton delivered a 35 minute speech.

Have they never heard of video conferencing?

I am quite amused that HMRC, inadvertently, belittle Tatton by noting she is not senior enough to publish her expenses (why did she go with Hartnett then if she is not senior enough?):

"The expenses of senior civil servants such as Mr Hartnett are published routinely every three months. Melissa Tatton is not senior enough for us to have to publish those, so we cannot comment on individuals' expenses."

It seems that when this was subject to media scrutiny in December, HMRC told the media that the cost of the dynamic duo's trip was under £6,000.

Not very good with numbers are they?

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
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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"

Self Absolution

Taxation recently published this letter from a disgruntled taxpayer and tax professional, re HMRC's handling of taxpayers' affairs.

As the letter notes:

"HMRC are allowed to absolve themselves from any responsibility when they make mistakes..."

I thought only a priest could do that?

Here is the letter in full:

"From: Lesley Rance

To: Pete Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire

Mr Wishart,

I would like to add my voice to those of my fellow tax professionals regarding the delays being experienced by agents in dealing with their client’s tax affairs.

Mike Truman, the editor of our professional publication, Taxation, put three questions to Exchequer Secretary David Gauke MP at last November’s ICAEW Tax Faculty Hardman lecture.

To date, no answers have been forthcoming, and Mr Truman has sent an open letter, published in Taxation and a copy of which I enclose for your reference, seeking a response.

Agents are being asked to write to their MPs to lobby Mr Gauke, hence my letter to you now.

The delays currently being experienced in dealing with HM Revenue & Customs are widespread and increasing and a far from satisfactory service is being provided to taxpayers and their agents.

I have many years' tax experience and, although there have always been instances of delays and errors, matters have gotten much worse in recent times.

The open letter gives a flavour of the problems being experienced by agents, myself included.

However, I don’t just have one example of each of these, I have several:

•HMRC not responding at all to letters and having to send reminders.

•Being advised they have no trace of my letter too many times to count now, and having to send duplicates.

•Being told when sending duplicate tax forms that these will not be given any priority but will go back to the end of the queue and dealt with in strict post order.

•HMRC choosing to respond to only one point raised in letters, thereby necessitating further correspondence to resolve other issues.

•HMRC writing back to ask for a National Insurance number as they could not trace the taxpayer we were writing about, despite our letter having repeated the reference given by them on their previous letter. What’s the purpose of their reference if they cannot trace a particular taxpayer from it?

•Receiving a letter from an office other than the one to whom I have written or other than the taxpayer’s own office. The worst so far is an involvement with four different offices: not so much a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing but rather, the right and left feet are involved as well, and they don’t have a clue what’s going on either. It used to be the case than an agent would receive a notice advising that the taxpayers records are being dealt with at another office, but that seems to have gone by the wayside.

•Having to continually chase for reminders because 28 days have gone by without any response. Contact by telephone is, for the most part, a waste of time, usually because the person on the other end doesn’t have the papers in front of them or doesn’t have the technical expertise to answer the query. And yes, I’m including in that the dedicated agent helpline, which is supposedly manned by more experienced staff.

•Being told by HMRC that they do not have the mandate 64-8 recorded on their system, when it must be quite obvious from all the correspondence that has already passed between us that we act for the taxpayer. Yes, I know they have to comply with the law, but when it's simply down to them not having updated their systems, it’s the most frustrating experience.

•Being told on the phone that the matter would be passed to someone else to deal with who would be in touch in a few days, and not being contacted.

•Being told that a repayment will be issued sent out within ten days, chasing when it isn’t, and again being told it would be issued within ten days.

The system places the onus for getting things correct wholly at the taxpayer's feet, and HMRC are allowed to absolve themselves from any responsibility when they make mistakes.

Most people have very little awareness of how tax works so. For example, issuing a PAYE coding notice and asking the taxpayer to contact them if they do not think it is correct, is just asking for trouble.

No other profession is able to shift the burden in quite that way. A doctor wouldn’t give you a prescription and leave it up to you to decide whether it was the correct medication or not.

In addition to delays in dealing with matters, I have seen a significant increase in the mistakes being made by HMRC, leading to both under- and over-stated tax. I have to then analyse why their calculation is wrong and write back to them explaining what they should do to correct it.

The errors are, very frequently, extremely basic. I have one at the moment in which, instead of showing the tax deducted from bank interest in the 'tax paid' column, the calculation included the net interest figure.

Why that wasn’t immediately spotted I have no idea, but it resulted in the client being over-refunded the sum of £270. That was HMRC’s third attempt at the calculation.

All the information they required to properly assess the position had been given to them, but they failed to do it three times and yet the onus is on the taxpayer to check that it is correct.

How far does a taxpayer have to go to comply with their obligations? If we’ve tried three times to get them to get it right, do we have to continue until they do?

In this case, its not economical for the client given the delays and costs involved and, in fact, the client has told me to do nothing more.

I would think, however, that if HMRC ever discover the error and seek reimbursement, the client has very strong grounds for arguing against having to repay it.

I daresay you may already have been contacted by other local agents on this subject.

I sincerely hope that you will appreciate the importance of what we all have to say, and that you will, therefore, write to Mr Gauke seeking a response to the questions raised by Mr Truman.

Yours sincerely,

Lesley Rance, Miller Hendry, Perth"

Sound familiar?

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
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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"

Debt Collection Issues

My thanks to a loyal reader who recently wrote to me about the problems she has encountered when dealing with HMRC's debt collection department.

"I've seen your blog and wonder if anyone else has had the problem of allegedly unreceived VAT 7 forms?

My husband's earnings dropped well below the VAT threshold for several years and last March or April he completed the VAT 7 and sent it off. He heard nothing and of course, you've guessed the rest, since then, he's had escalating demands of speculative VAT they've decided he owes.

There have been numerous calls from us, from our accountant and each time we get a different story but they always say they can't trace having received the VAT7.

We complained to the Debt management unit at Shipley and he also sent a letter to them confirming his turnover at way below the limit and they date from which he wished to de-register.

He also got his accountant to send in yet another VAT7, with a covering letter in December.

In February, the complaint was responded to but on the basis that the recorded delivery VAT7 could not be traced and although the fake debt pursuance had been put on hold, the threatening letters would still come out if the VAT 7 was not received.

During one of the phone calls, someone at the Debt Recovery unit told me it didn't make any difference if you sent things recorded delivery, they could still maintain all they'd received was something, and not necessarily the document in question.

Where we are now is that since we had the complaint response on Thursday saying the matter was in abeyance, we got a letter on Friday from the debt unit in Benton saying they're going to instruct solicitors to collect this bogus debt.

I've sent a response by recorded delivery, both to the complaints manager and to whoever the anonymous person was in Benton saying that if we hear anything from a debt recovery agency, we'll institute a counter claim and will treat it as harassment.

Basically, even if this shower of shit can't find the various VAT7 forms, they do have my husband's letter in which he gives them all the relevant information. This formed part of his complaint but those people didn't pass it on to the de-registration unit on the basis, I was told that it's not their job. I took the precaution of sending it by recorded delivery and am doing so with all future correspondence.

I mean, this is it in a nutshell and the bottom line is that my husband has only tried to de-register and has had a barrel full of abuse and harassment. He's 69, has heart failure and diabetes. They know all this. I've sent a letter to my MP today but doubtless it will go on the pile and nothing will come of it. I've got the correspondence and am waiting for the accountant to let me have the audit trail of the what/when that he's done over the past year.

When are we going to get some sort of organisation together that fights back?

Individuals are powerless and it's about time we got some publicity for successful prosecutions against HMRC. My husband's case isn't about an error of coding - this is about incompetence and the fact that he owes them nothing but they still hound him relentlessly. It's positively Kafka-esque.

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
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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"

A Hammer To Crack A Nut

HMRC have started writing to 900 tax evaders, telling them that they are "on probation".

HMRC will make unannounced visits to the premises of those notified, carry out checks on their suppliers and customers and deny them access to simplified tax-filing procedures and processes for a period of up to five years.

Fair enough, until you see that the financial threshold for this has been set at a mere £5K (hardly a huge amount if the business is relatively large); and that HMRC are judge and jury when determining as to whether the "error" was deliberate (evasion), or simply an honest mistake.

Even Richard Murphy is not overly impressed, the Guardian states that he thought the plan was a good idea but poorly executed:

"I am quite concerned that the level of error is fairly low at £5,000. People can make honest mistakes."

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"

The Hail Mary Response

Last week I wrote that the "Grande Dame" (Lesley Strathie) had apparently talked up the recently published Civil Service People Survey 2010 (in which HMRC came 103rd out of 103).

My thanks to a loyal reader who has taken the time and trouble to make a transcript of the "Grande Dame's" pep talk. I understand that this has been typed from the script as it appears in the HMRC intranet, therefore there may be a few small errors and omissions. However, I am sure that you will all get the underlying message!

"Message from Leslie Straithie Improving Our People Survey Results

There's no question we have to improve our People Survey results.

Overall engagement was the lowest of the 103 organisations surveyed and all on the senior team take responsibility.

Tempting to think nothing can be done short term. People point to pay freezes and staff cuts insist we can't turn things around while this is happening.

Yet our highest performing teams show it can be done, Benefits & Credits we have front line operational teams whose scores have jumped over 20%.

These are fantastic results we can learn from them.

In the summer I set out what we were doing to start turning things round. Every HMRC leader now has to publish the 3 leadership behaviours they want to improve personally.

Frontline people have taken part in focus groups to examine what you expect from us as an employer (and what we can expect from you in return), we are currently looking at the HR policies and procedures we need to change.

Where our people survey have improved - and we've seen good results in parts of Information Management Services there are 4 common themes:

Pacesetter - People don't want to hear about changes they want to be part of the solution. Fundamentally it is about solving problems the 3 C's process is about making sure issues can be raised escalated and dealt with not simply ignored.

In 2009/2010 B&C adopted 75 staff ideas under Pacesetter Change Control Process this year they have taken up over 230. What's more leadership visibility scores in Pacesetter areas are an average 10 higher.

Communication - essential- especially where it involves line management. High performing teams use face to face briefings whenever possible and don't rely on intranet, newsletters or emails (Editor's note: Does that ,mean that HMRC - which does rely on emails and intranet - is not high performing?)

We have seen this in IMS with their fortnightly briefings and seen how these teams score higher where managers explain how their work fits into HMRC's overall strategy.

Good Line Managers - The manager is crucial especially when it comes to day to day issues that really affect morale and performance.

Not all of these issues will be within their gift but we have seen excellent results where they have listened (Editor's note: this implies that some line managers do not listen), fed back concerns and taken action.

CaM and B&C Ops have developed something called The Link Model to help managers do this. Last year just 20% of B&C believed action would be taken as a result of the survey, this year it was 42%.

Excellent managers tackle things that damage morale like poor performance, and take early and decisive action on sickness absence.

High scoring teams reward good work either through the Simply Thanks scheme, similar local initiative or celebrate it at special events.

Strong Leadership - Visible credible leadership is characteristic of high performing teams and a key part of our leadership behaviours. The most successful managers even have staff engagement built into their PDE's.

We expect them to talk openly and honestly about what's taking place in HMRC (key part of Change Programme) This is something we will measure them against.

Finally you said you wanted to see action so every month Pulse magazine will include a new Listening, Acting, Improving section setting out the changes large and small we make that month.

I firmly believe we can build a Department we can all be proud of. Its a big challenge and I want to thank the high performing teams who prove it can be done."

Well, from my perspective as an outsider, there is a lot of management consultant jargon in this "Hail Mary" plea for faith in the future. However, I would like to ask those who actually work in HMRC:

1 Do you believe that she is sincere in the above, in that she really believes that things can/will improve?

2 Are the tactics she refers to above really being rolled out across all of HMRC?

3 If these tactics are actually being rolled out, are they actually working and helping improve performance and morale?

4 What really needs to be done?

5 As a member of staff of HMRC, what was your genuine feeling about the Strathie response to the survey?

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"

The One Way Street

My thanks to a loyal reader who sent me the following examples (I have redacted certain details) about communication delays when dealing with HMRC:

"I wrote to the correct tax office in May 2010 to request a tax refund, enclosing P45/P60 details to support my simple calculation £** overpayment. Cheque received yesterday, 8 months later. No interest and had to be chased twice in writing.

I am chasing a VAT overpayment of over £**K for a client. Has to be reduced to £**K as only 4 years can be allowed (HMRC can go back 6 I believe). This is a corner shop. £**K is 2 years entire net profit. Why?

Letter with correct VAT sent 5 Dec 2010. HMRC is currently (as of this morning) reading the post from last week of November. Why?

I am working with Tribunal service for a client charged with penalties of £*K for three missing CIS returns. He earns £*K a year. HMRC supposed to have 42 days to respond to me and Tribunal. Have so far been allowed 150 days. My clients haven't slept for 4 months. Why?

Client been given 7 days by Debt Enforcement office to avoid seizing of assets. Investigation so far shows HMRC has 'lost' all payments made in 2008 and 2009; that it has no record of the telephone time to pay agreement and has also lost the P35s sent twice by recorded delivery. My 64-8 from August 2010 also not processed or lost. (along with 3 or 4 other 64-8s)

I only have 50 clients and these are four different ones I am dealing with this month alone...."

It does seem to be rather a "one way" street when communicating with HMRC, in that the taxpayer gets jumped on if he/she misses a deadline but not vice versa.

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"

Question

Here is a question posed by someone to me on Twitter.

Seeing as the new benefit system is to be called "Universal Credit", does that mean HMRC and DWP could be merged?

My answer was as follows, given that the merger between IR and Customs has been a disaster I would caution against it.

What are your views?

All views and opinions welcome.

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's Blockade Lifted

In December 2010 I wrote about the blockade imposed by HMRC on Christopher Lunn & Co (CLAC), a Sussex accounting firm.

"The firm claims that HMRC is refusing to deal with it, and will not allow it to file certain tax returns while it is being investigated.

According to the FT CLAC were raided by HMRC in June 2010 and the firm's files taken.

Despite the investigation going on for the last 6 months, HMRC have not told them why they are being investigated. CLAC suspect it is part of HMRC's much vaunted (unless of course you are Vodafone or a friend of Hartnett) anti avoidance campaign.....

Guilty until proven innocent appears to be the maxim of HMRC.

Should this department be given such powers, and be allowed to treat firms and individuals in such a high handed manner without due process?

Power of this nature, especially when in the hands of unelected bureaucrats, corrupts."

CLAC have now won their legal challenge against HMRC.

In a Judicial Review filed against HMRC, Mr Justice Kenneth Parker found in favour of Christopher Lunn and Company ruling that:

"The challenged decision should be quashed on account of the unlawful procedural failure."

The judgment reverses HMRC's decision, ruling it unlawful.

Here is the full text of the press release issued yesterday:

CHRISTOPER LUNN WINS LEGAL CHALLENGE AGAINST HMRC

· HMRC actions branded unlawful and unfair
· Effect of HMRC conduct undermined business confidence

LONDON, 16 February 2011: Christopher Lunn and Company, a Sussex-based firm of accountants, today won a significant victory in the High Court overturning a decision by HMRC to revoke its tax agent status. The judgment follows the instigation of an HMRC enquiry into Christopher Lunn and Company that began in 2009 and culminated in the HMRC deciding to withdraw Christopher Lunn and Company’s tax agent status in November 2010.

In a Judicial Review filed against HMRC, Mr Justice Kenneth Parker found in favour of Christopher Lunn and Company ruling that: “the challenged decision should be quashed on account of the unlawful procedural failure." The judgment reverses HMRC’s decision, ruling it unlawful.

Christopher Lunn and Company’s submissions centred on establishing whether HMRC had acted lawfully in withdrawing agent status without giving an opportunity to Christopher Lunn and Company to make representations first as to why its agent status should not be withdrawn. Despite giving Christopher Lunn and Company 28 days in which to make representations, HMRC withdrew agent status with immediate effect and on the same day that it notified Christopher Lunn and Company of its decision, wrote to clients of Christopher Lunn and Company advising them of its actions. Christopher Lunn and Company contended that HMRC's actions prejudged the issue and materially prejudiced Christopher Lunn and Company's position.

Following today’s ruling, Christopher Lunn and Company will be able to obtain its costs and will also be claiming damages from HMRC.

James Bullock, Tax Partner at McGrigors LLP, Solicitors to Christopher Lunn & Company said:

“Today’s judgment confirms that HMRC acted unlawfully in a procedurally unfair manner by deciding to cease dealing with Christopher Lunn and Company without giving them an opportunity to make representations first. In the light of an ongoing investigation, in respect of which Christopher Lunn and Company has sought to co-operate, it was most surprising that HMRC should act in this way. Only once before has HMRC unilaterally withdrawn agent status- and that was in a situation where the agent had actually been convicted of tax fraud. The High Court has quite rightly ruled HMRC's actions unlawful."

Christopher Lunn, the founder and owner of Christopher Lunn and Company, said: “Today’s decision is hopefully a major step towards clearing our names. It seemed to us that HMRC was seeking to close our business, threatening the livelihoods of 50 full and part-time staff. This is despite the fact that it was only in the run up to the High Court hearing itself that HMRC became obliged to disclose details of the case against us. We have been astonished at the allegations which HMRC have made which we believe are fundamentally flawed and inaccurate. This victory now gives us the opportunity to rebut the allegations that have been thrown at us."

“We have carefully built and nurtured our reputation over 40 years of successful and unblemished trading, and would like to thank those many clients who have continued to support us over the last nine months. We have been in a period of incredible uncertainty and immense pressure, despite not having been charged with any offence.”

Management and staff at Christopher Lunn and Company, which is based in Crowborough, East Sussex, are committed to continue to offer their full support to HMRC in order to dispense with its investigation at the earliest time. The company continues to trade and support its customers in the professional way that it has done in more than three decades.

For more information

On behalf of CLAC

David WilsonBell Pottinger Public Relations
+44 (0) 20 7861 2445
dwilson@bell-pottinger.co.uk


Neville Rawlings
Bell Pottinger Public Relations
+44 (0) 20 7861 2502
nrawlings@bell-pottinger.co.uk

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"

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Grant Thornton have published a salutary warning about what happens if you ignore letters from HMRC.

"It is a salutary reminder that HMRC's powers and case law means that taxpayers could be deemed guilty before proven innocent. It is vitally important not to ignore any HMRC correspondence, ensure that deadlines, particularly for appeals..."

Here is the article in full from Grant Thornton's site:

"As tempting as it may be to stuff unopened HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) envelopes down the sofa or behind the clock, details of a recent tax tribunal decision may change your mind. This is a real horror story of HMRC turning a £3,000 initial risk into a £275,000 problem and the possibility of bankruptcy.

The tax tribunal published the outcome of a hearing at the end of 2010 that may send shivers down the spine of anyone putting off their correspondence from HMRC.

This case was heard in Manchester and the taxpayer, Robert Legg (tax tribunals are not held in private), appeared in person without any professional adviser. He had applied to the tribunal for permission to appeal out of time against an HMRC assessment issued in November 2008 and a tax investigation enquiry closure notice issued in June 2009. His appeals to HMRC were submitted in May 2010 and rejected for being out of time.

That may sound very ordinary on the surface, but HMRC had turned the information that he was party to a bank account, which had interest credited of about £3,000, into a £274,355.73 tax problem.

It was only when Legg received a statutory demand for this amount in October 2009 that he was prompted to do anything. Initially he tried to get this set aside and bankruptcy proceedings were ultimately stopped pending the outcome of the tribunal’s decision.

How did £3,000 bank interest become a £0.275 million tax problem?

After opening an enquiry in March 2007 into Legg’s 2003-04 tax return HMRC sent him five or six letters asking for details of the source of the £3,000 funds – but he failed to reply. HMRC then made various assumptions based on that figure.

HMRC assumed that Mr Legg must have had funds of £250,000 to generate £3,000 interest. That £250,000 was regarded by HMRC as further undisclosed income and the tax due on this extra income came to £96,725 for one tax year. HMRC appears to have estimated a similar amount for the year after and together with interest and penalties the amount due mushroomed to £274,355.73. But it could have been even worse.

HMRC could have used its formal powers to allege fraud and raise further assessments going back up to 20 tax years – see my previous post, Beware the time-travelling taxman.

Surely it was just a joke?

During initial telephone calls to HMRC Mr Legg claimed that the information had been supplied to HMRC maliciously. He made allegations against his former wife’s solicitor and even the Inspector of Taxes but he failed to explain anything about the original source of the funds. He also contended that he took no action against the original assessments because he felt he didn’t owe any money and that it was all a ‘Jeremy Beadle’ type joke. He claimed that he didn’t have any bank accounts after the year 2000 and didn’t know if his wife’s account was the source of the £3,000.

Tribunal’s decision

The standard time limit to make an appeal is 30 days, but Legg waited 17 months after the original assessment was issued by HMRC before making an appeal. In the absence of any convincing answers and his poor credibility at the tribunal, the judge decided that the tribunal could not allow the late appeals. It is not known whether or not Legg has sought permission to appeal against this decision so we may yet hear more from this in the Upper Tribunal.

It is a salutary reminder that HMRC’s powers and case law means that taxpayers could be deemed guilty before proven innocent. It is vitally important not to ignore any HMRC correspondence, ensure that deadlines, particularly for appeals, are not missed and to seek professional guidance if you are unsure of your rights."

Tax does have to be taxing.

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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"

Debt Collection - The HMRC Way

My thanks to a loyal reader who sent me this rather "amusing" story about a recent visit to a pub, which had itself been visited earlier by a bailiff acting on behalf of HMRC.

I reproduce the text, but cannot vouch for its accuracy as I was not in that pub on that evening.

"I popped into my local pub last night, which happens to be in northern England. The male landlord hadn't had the best of days and a 'letter' was circulating the bar from HMRC.

Apparently when going about his business earlier in the day, he went outside to get into his car only to be confronted by an unknown individual. Apparently a bailiff acting on behalf of HMRC and pursuing a not inconsiderable amount, of unpaid VAT.

The bailiff acting on behalf of HMRC set about haranguing the landlord and subsequently serving this unsealed HMRC letter upon the landlord.

Not impressed the landlord of the pub drove off 'having had enough'. (You can imagine the conversation, and fill in the blanks when you finish reading this).

The HMRC letter that was circulating the pub was a photocopy of a letter from HMRC in Peterborough. The bailiff had hand written over it addressing it to an individual at the pub address, and written on the bottom that he would be returning the following day to remove the landlord's car (distraint etc).

You can understand why the landlord wasn't impressed.

The only problem is the unsealed, hand delivered HMRC letter was addressed to the LANDLADY (let's say she's called Mary), who was in the pub about three years ago, and there have been several landlords in the pub since!

I can't begin to count the number of 'indiscretions' this bailiff has committed, let alone breaches of legislation, but you would imagine serving an open letter addressed to Mary, a female upon a male, would at least be obvious to most people in the UK – clearly not HMRC representatives.

I did however make a note of his telephone number if anyone wants it.

You couldn't begin to make it up!"

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
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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"

Motivation - A Lah Grande Dame

My thanks to a loyal reader, who advises me that the "Grande Dame" (Lesley Strathie) has talked up the recently published Civil Service People Survey 2010 (in which HMRC came 103rd out of 103).

Seemingly the "Grande Dame" has hailed the results as a success, and in parts an example of how well "we" have done!

I am advised that this motivating speech accompanied the very curtailed page and a half version of the 14 page survey result that HMRC were forced into publishing on the intranet.

Please could someone send me the speech, or point me to where I might be able to download it?

Thanks.

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"

The Empire Strikes Back

My thanks to several loyal readers who have alerted me to HMRC's new staff incentive programme.

It seems that ExCom have reached deep within the bowels of history, and have resurrected the British Empire.

Huzzah!

"E is for Empire, on which the sun never sets!"

As such the Imperial Service Medal will now be awarded to selected HMRC staff who are retiring after 25 years, or more, of service.

Whilst I agree that retirement after long service should be recognised and rewarded, is the Imperial Service Medal really the right way to do this?

What about long serving staff (if there are any left) who have not yet retired?

To build a memorial, first find a million victims.

Here is the announcement from HMRC's intranet:

"HMRC is reintroducing the Imperial Service Medal to recognise the efforts and achievements of long-serving members of staff.

Awarded by the Queen on the Department's recommendation, it is given to people at AA and AO grades who have made a real contribution over at least 25 years.

Chief executive Lesley Strathie said:

'The knowledge and experience of our people is something we really should celebrate. The contribution made by some of our longest-serving people is immense, so I'm extremely pleased that it will be formally recognised in this way.'

The medal is awarded when a person retires and has been reintroduced from 1 February. It was previously recognised at various times in both the former Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise.

Nominations will come from a person's line manager and HMRC's honours secretariat has produced guidance to help them through the process."

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"

Breaking Point

HMRC came in for something of a pasting during a Commons Treasury select committee meeting this week.

The underlying problem, according to various tax professionals attending the committee, is that cuts in HMRC staffing levels are causing time to be wasted by tax advisers and their clients (this is the "Big Society" in action, whereby the pain from the cuts is spread around a bit).

Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at the ACCA, told the committee that HMRC's contention that there had been no reduction in quality of customer service was "nonsense", and that there was a perception that HMRC staff are not fully trained and "are not tax people".

Paul Aplin, chairman of the Tax Faculty Technical Committee at the ICAEW, was quoted by Accountancy Age:

"The experience with the HMRC five or six years ago is completely different to now.

To get a relatively simple thing done, like changing a tax code, would have taken a phone call. Now it can take months. In that period, I have to waste HMRC's time and my clients grow frustrated."

Aplin went on to warn that the situation will actually get worse, as further cuts are implemented, and that people's trust in the tax system is being undermined.

Aplin said that his firm regularly waits two to three months for a reply from HMRC to a letter, which more often than not has been lost by HMRC.

Quote:

"..I don't think it [HMRC] is broken but I think it is stretched almost to breaking point."

HMRC, recognise there is a problem, a spokesman said:

"We are determined to improve those areas of our business that are currently not delivering the quality of service to which we aspire."

The question is, are the right people in positions of authority within HMRC in order to be able to drive through an improvement in service levels/quality etc?

Are the politicians capable of appointing the right people to ExComm?

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"

Pacesetter Award Nomination

Nominate me for a Pacesetter Award by signing this petition, feel free to pass it on.

Nominate Ken Frost for Pacesetter Award

Thanks.

Ken;)

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"

The Problem With Surveys

My thanks to a loyal "anonymous" reader (LAR), who draws my attention to the fact that the "leaders" of HMRC do not seem to want their staff to discuss the fact that HMRC came 103rd in the Civil Service People Survey 2010.

"But wouldn't it be awful if HMRC staff were banned from discussing this development?

Surely CaM, the internal comms people in HMRC wouldn't lock a thread on the staff forum boards soon after these results were known thereby denying HMRC's own people the chance to enter into some adult and honest debate?

No, that would surely never happen in an organisation that wanted to raise staff engagement..."

As LAR says, how can an organisation that claims that it wants to improve staff engagement stop staff from engaging on this issue without being labelled hypocritical?

Fortunately, HMRC staff et al are more than welcome to engage with each other on this site.

Maybe I will receive an award from ExComm for promoting staff engagement?;)

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"

Bottom

My thanks to the anonymous reader yesterday, who cryptically pointed me in the direction of the Civil Service People Survey 2010.

HMRC's specific results have already been covered on this site. However, the overall rankings (department by department) have now been published.

Out of 103 Civil Service departments which took part, HMRC came last with an engagement index score of 34 against a median of 56.

Comments from Dame Lesley Strathie are very welcome!

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"

Plain Speaking

The Low Income Tax Reform Group (LITRG) has called for there to be a simplification of the language used in HMRC's forms and communications.

LITRG notes that HMRC have carried out numerous research projects to assess the needs of their customers. However, LITRG note that turning the feedback into reality has not happened.

They note that last October President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act 2010, which requires the US federal government to write all new publications, forms, and publicly distributed documents in a "clear, concise, well-organised" manner.

LITRG believe that were a similar act to be enacted in the UK, it would save LITRG countless hours of commenting upon badly drafted Government forms, leaflets and general guidance.

It would also give "the unrepresented taxpayer a fighting chance of helping themselves when trying to cope with HMRC obligations. It would certainly reduce error to a considerable degree".

Please feel free to post your examples of "confusing language" that you have encountered in HMRC communications.

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's Emissions

Congratulations to HMRC for winning the Best Large Public Sector Fleet title for the second year running, and the Business Mileage Management award for the first time. It was also runner up in the Leadership – Public Sector category!

The Awards are organised by the Energy Saving Trust, and supported by the Guardian and the CBI.

Pete Gleeson, Category Lead Travel and Transport at HMRC, told Public Sector Travel:

"I am delighted to receive these awards on behalf of HMRC, which recognise the work of our fleet team and pays tribute to the efforts made across HMRC.

We will now be turning our attention to what more can be done to reduce fleet/emissions further in 2011."

As noted, HMRC also won this last year and what I said then probably still applies:

"I assume that this hasn't been achieved by managers ditching cars and flying instead?

It would be interesting to see if flying miles during the last year have increased/reduced or remained static."

I refer to two comments made by readers at the time:

"Talk of saving CO2 is a nonsense.

Now that officers have to travel into the office first to pick up the pool car for their visits, it means that actual journey times and mileages and CO2 are greatly increased - but then again, the first leg of the journey doesn't count in the stats and HMRC and Gordon Brown's crazy world of Off Balance Sheet Financing."

"I wouldn't believe a word they said.

Since a mangers team could include staff in Belfast, Edinburgh or somewhere in England these people are never out of airports and jumping in taxis.

HMRC are a fucking laugh spouting off all this positive info. When you asked for some clarification on the departments restructuring or simply the future, it was like talking to a pack of dummies.

Plus should the overall costs not be down anyway considering that thousands of disillusioned staff have fucked off out of the place over the last few years?

A den of iniquity."

Comments on the reality of these energy/emissions savings welcome!

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"

Carry On Regardless

HMRC has decided to carry on with its plans to force companies to file tax returns online using iXBRL, despite the fact that the professional accounting bodies have called for a delay.

In a letter to Treasury, David Gauke, the institutes (CIoT, ACCA, ICAS, ATT, ICAEW and the AAT) have asked for a delay as they fear that the new technology is not ready.

Sage have stated that its accounts production programs will not be ready in time.

However, HMRC insist that as from 1 April 2011 iXBRL must be used.

ICAS red flagged this issue in June 2009. However, I am surprised that it has taken the institutes so long to get their act together to write a joint letter about the problem only now (given that implementation is now only 2 months away).

Notwithstanding HMRC's stance, rumour has it that the Treasury will make a decision today as to whether this will really go ahaead.

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"

Putting The Boot In

The Commons Public Accounts Committee has given HMRC a thorough kicking wrt the PAYE reconciliation issues of 2008/09, 2007/08 and earlier years.

Accountancy Age reports that the committee Chairman, Margaret Hodge, said that HMRC "failed in its duty to process PAYE accurately and on time" and deliberately left taxpayers in the dark until last September because of problems with its NI and PAYE Service (NPS) computer system.

Hodge said:

"HMRC's mismanagement has caused uncertainty and worry to taxpayers and inequity in the system. We now look to the department to be able to demonstrate clearly by the end of 2011 that NPS can process PAYE promptly, accurately and efficiently. Taxpayer confidence must be restored."

The committee noted that the implementation of NPS was "flawed", and that there are "data quality issues" that had disrupted the issue of tax codes for 2010/11.

Seemingly HMRC began issuing 25 million coding notices for 2010/11, without first establishing why the number was massively in excess of its forecast.

As I have noted before, the root cause of HMRC's problems stems from the botched merger (ordered by Brown), the interference of politicians, the complexity of the tax system (legislated by politicians) and the ineptitude of senior managers (appointed by politicians).

The committee is right to draw attention to the problems, and is right to blame HMRC for specific issues. However, the underlying cause of HMRC's problems (and ultimately their resolution) lies in the hands of the politicians.

That of course means the problems will never be solved, as our political establishment simply isn't up to the job.

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"