Online Tax Return Deadline

You have until midnight tonight to file your online tax return and pay tax due.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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 Falling Yields

HMRC collected 25% less money from investigations into big business in 2016 https://t.co/ysDVxJP0HY

— Tax Tipper, ACA (@TaxTipper) January 30, 2017

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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 Secret of HMRC's "Success" Doesn't Stack Up

Unsurprisingly HMRC have received another drubbing, this time from PAC.

In a report issued by PAC, PAC chairwoman Meg Hillier said HMRC's claims about its success "just don't stack up".

Well then, finally people other than the readers of this site are waking up to reality!

Of particular concern to PAC is HMRC's "one rule for the rich, another for the poor" approach to tax collection and enforcement.

Amusingly, HMRC claim that the rich get extra scrutiny; as some loyal readers have already pointed out, "extra scrutiny" appears to mean power lunches/dinners with HMRC top brass.

In an "ironic" twist, since HMRC set up a specialist unit dealing with so-called high net worth individuals in 2009, the amount of income tax they paid had fallen by £1bn. This is despite income tax receipts from the public as a whole rising by £23bn over the same period.

Since 2009, each of the estimated 6,500 individuals worth £20m or more has been assigned a "customer relationship manager" by HMRC to administer their tax affairs.

HMRC said this had resulted in the collection of an additional £2bn in tax. However, it was unable to explain why the income tax they paid fell by 20% - from £4.5bn in 2009-10 to £3.5bn in 2014-15 - when the overall income tax take rose by 9% £23bn.

The BBC reports that in the five years to 31 March 2016, HMRC completed just 72 fraud investigations into high net worth individuals, with all but two having been dealt with using its civil powers. Only one case resulted in a successful criminal prosecution.

Of the 850 penalties issued to the very wealthy since 2012, the average charge was £10,500, a figure the MPs said was unlikely to be a deterrent to multi-millionaires.

PAC chairwoman Meg Hillier said:

"If the public are to have faith in the tax system then it must be seen to have fairness at its heart. It also needs to work properly. In our view, HMRC is failing on both counts.

HMRC's claims about the success of its strategy to deal with the very wealthy just don't stack up."

An HMRC spokesman said:

"In fact we give them additional scrutiny, with one-to-one marking by HMRC's specialist tax collectors, to ensure that they pay everything they owe, just like the rest of us do." 

"Marking" should not mean power lunches/dinners!

As ever though, low hanging fruit is the easiest to pick. Therefore HMRC will continue to bully SME's and individuals of modest means, and increase the number/frequency of automatic fines for minor cock ups on tax returns.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Tax Error Penalties Increase By 38%

In the year to April 2016, HMRC imposed 28,663 penalties against those whose inaccurate returns deliberately understated their income.

This represents an increase of 38% on the 20,740 penalties given out in 2014-15.

International Adviser reports that the figures, obtained by RSM using a Freedom of Information request, show that just 5,162 fines were given out in 2012-13, an almost six-fold rise in deliberate penalties over a period of four tax years.

Mike Down, head of tax investigations at RSM, is quoted:

"This spike in penalties suggests a marked change in attitude at HMRC, and it is clear that Inspectors are now taking a much harder line.

However, HMRC needs to be wary of the perception that they are engaging in ‘penalty farming’ and ensure they don’t unfairly penalise people who are not seeking to deliberately deceive". 

Penalties are levied according to the type of taxpayer behaviour that leads to an inaccuracy and on whether the tax adjustment is volunteered freely, or arises as a result of an HMRC challenge.

There are four categories of behaviour, ranging from ‘mistake’ despite taking reasonable care, failure to take reasonable care (or ‘careless’), to ‘deliberate’ with the most serious being an inaccuracy which is ‘deliberate with concealment’. The more serious the behaviour, the higher the penalty.

As Mr Down says, HMRC needs to be wary of penalising people who innocently made a mistake.

The ongoing increase in penalties levied indicates one or more of the following:

1 Taxpayers are becoming more dishonest.

2 HMRC are becoming more skilled at identifying errors.

3 HMRC are "penalty farming".

Your thoughts and opinions are, as always, very welcome.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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 22 Year Error

I appreciate that cock ups occur in life. However, I am having trouble believing that one involving a duplicate NI number and an erroneous tax demand could have gone on for 22 years without being corrected.

The Daily Record recently reported that Darren O’Neill was shocked to find that he had a namesake – with the same national insurance number.

Some 22 years down the line, he was no nearer to resolving his identity crisis.

Darren, 42, said:

“I can’t take much more of this. I am weary trying to explain to the Revenue that I’m being confused with another Darren O’Neill.

We have the same name but different middle names. He lives in Lincolnshire and I live in West Lothian. I’m at the end of my tether.”

Darren, a former surveyor, first spotted the problem when he finished an apprenticeship in 1995.

“I began looking for work and tried to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance while I was doing that.

But I was told I couldn’t claim because I was working.

This was ridiculous because I wasn’t working – I was looking for work.

I spoke to the tax office about it, they admitted their error and I breathed a sigh of relief.

This other Darren had an identical reference number. So they issued me with a temporary number supposedly for a year while they sorted things out.”

When he started working again, Darren, of Bo’ness, was told to revert to the original number.

He said:

“I recall moving jobs a couple of times and my employers telling me my NI number was wrong.

But each time I approached HMRC, they apologised, assured me they had solved things and I just kept paying into the system.”

However, in 2010 he received a letter issuing him with a new tax code and claiming he worked for the NHS in Lincolnshire.

“I then got a P800 claiming I’d underpaid tax on my salary of more than £30,000.
I couldn’t believe it. I wish I had an income like that.”

Two years later, HMRC wrote to say they would collect the underpayment through his tax code.

“It was difficult enough making ends meet without deductions for repayment of tax I didn’t owe. But things seemed to be sorted again after I complained and pointed out their error.”

When he tried to claim universal credit in November, following a shoulder op, the DWP insisted he was in work.

Darren said:

“I’ve been to my MP and Citizens Advice but I’m getting nowhere. I’m fed up filling in forms. Please help.”

HMRC are now "on the case" to resolve the issue.

A spokesman said:

“We don’t discuss individual cases but, where a National Insurance record is not up to date, we do all we can to help customers identify any missing credits.”

How on earth can an error like this go unresolved for 22 years?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Voice ID Doesn't Recognise Northern Accents

My sources tell me HMRC's voice automated call routing can't yet cope with Northern accents ... https://t.co/7cWRv0z2dp

— Secret Ledger (@secret_ledger) January 23, 2017

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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 To Roll Out Caller Voice ID

HMRC claims that it will start rolling out Voice ID technology to some taxpayers on its phone service, in its next stage of embracing biometric technology.

Some taxpayers calling either the tax credits and Self Assessment helplines will be offered the chance to enrol in the voice identification system, which it claims will make it easier and quicker for taxpayers to pass the necessary security steps when ringing HMRC.

To enrol a caller has to repeat a vocal passphrase up to five times, before being passed to an advisor to provide the usual security information. Once this is logged, the caller can then use this phrase to identify themselves when they ring in the future.

V3 reports that to begin with HMRC will just be building a ‘bank' of customer passphrases before they actually roll the system out.

HMRC said the technology in use is "well-proven". However, it is not clear if it is using a third party or in house system.

HMRC director general for Customer Services, Ruth Owen, said:

"Millions of our customers are choosing to use our digital services rather than picking up a phone or pen, with more joining them every day. But we know that not everyone can, or wants to, deal with us online, and so we're continuing to improve our services across all contact channels.

Voice ID is the latest example of the cutting-edge technology we are using to make it easier for people to manage their tax and tax credits." 

All very well if it works, and if people can through on the phone lines!


Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

How To Complete Your Tax Return

pic.twitter.com/bNe4CGRYbn

— Viz Comic (@vizcomic) January 18, 2017

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

You Couldn't Make This Up - HMRC Ignores Payment on Account Changes

It seems that HMRC's online self assessment systems have ignored some applications to reduce payments on account for 2016/17 without notification.

That at least is what some tax agents have reported.

Kevin Salter, deputy chairman of the ICAEW technical committee, blogged about his experiences with an application filed on 12 December that was not actioned by HMRC - despite receiving confirmation of the reduction from HMRC.

Accounting Web reports that he discovered the online glitch after looking up a different point regarding his client’s tax liabilities. However, the online system showed the full amount on the submitted 2016/17 as still being due.

When Salter called HMRC he was told the application had been “rejected”.

Salter is quoted:

“There was no indication or notification that this had happened, and the first we would have known about it had we fortuitously not logged in would have been in February when the client would have received a statement, or more likely, a surcharge penalty for non-payment. HMRC were able to make a manual adjustment to put through this postponement.”

His is not an isolated case. Several other ICAEW members reported similar issues.

David Holm found that a reduction submitted on 14 September had also not been overlooked by HMRC Online. After contacting the agent line, Holm reported:

“They said that inexplicably their system had treated the reduction as being for 2015/16 and, because the 2015/16 return had already been filed, the reduction was ignored.”

Has anyone else encountered this problem, or knows why the HMRC systems are not handling applications to reduce payments on account properly?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Frank Field Calls For Concentrix Compensation

Frank Field writes in the Huffington Post:

"I propose to HMRC that, as a postscript to the Concentrix tale, it proactively approaches those families whose tax credits were wrongly stopped with two offers: to pay back those lost monies as a lump sum or over a more gradual period; and to compensate those families in full for any additional charges, such as debt interest, that they incurred to ensure their children did not end up hungry or homeless."

I fully agree.

However, does HMRC know who it screwed over?

I suspect its records are amiss.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

#BetterBudgets - Live

#BetterBudgets Tweets

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

MTD - A Disaster Waiting To Happen

The Treasury Committee is none too impressed with HMRC's Making Tax Digital (MTD) plans. As such, it should come as no surprise to learn that the committee has called for the implementation to be delayed for at least one year.

Specifically the committee has called for the introduction of the entire Making Tax Digital to be pushed back ‘until at least 2019/20, possibly later’. The current plan is to start quarterly reporting from April 2018 for landlords and the self employed, with micro businesses next to come online.

The committee also wants the threshold for reporting through Making Tax Digital to be lifted from the currently proposed, and distinctly arbitrary, £10,000 to match the VAT threshold of £83,000.

As per CCH Daily:

"The committee has yet to see evidence strong enough to justify a threshold below the VAT threshold, £83,000. It may exist, but the government needs to assemble and publish it."

Also, for good measure, the committee wants more substantive and wide ranging pilot schemes. In other words the committee knows that HMRC are trying to push this through without sufficient testing and feedback!

Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie said:

'The pilots need to be designed to gather information over the entire reporting cycle – four quarterly updates and an end of year reconciliation. These need to be evaluated before full implementation and parliament needs to see the evidence that this has been done."

HMRC, in an effort to pass the financial buck, has repeatedly said that commercial software providers will have to provide free software for use by those who do not purchase accounting software.

Fat chance!

Andrew Tyrie went on to say, quite rightly, that:

"This is not a minor matter. These reforms will affect millions of taxpayers. Their cooperation and trust are both hard won and easily dissipated. Without them, more of the yield could be at risk than any putative extra revenue from MTD."

MTD is a disaster waiting to happen!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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 Texting Fetish

Ooh, a text message!

Oh, it's from #HMRC reminding me to cough up by 31 Jan.#TaxReturns

— Kevin Reed (@Goonerreed) January 13, 2017

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Tax Credits Under HMRC's Full Control

 

Welfare Tax Credits:Written question - 58935

Q

Asked by Rob Marris

(Wolverhampton South West)

[N]

Asked on: 06 January 2017

HM Treasury

Welfare Tax Credits

58935

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which organisation will run the compliance process for tax credits for (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.

A

Answered by: Jane Ellison

Answered on: 11 January 2017

HM Revenue and Customs will run and deliver the entire compliance process for tax credits.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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 Tackling MTD In The Wrong Order

Andrew Jackson, chair of the UK200Group tax panel, says the law governing relationships and taxpayer obligations should be hammered out before the IT infrastructure is designed for Making Tax Digital (MTD).

He is quoted by AccountingWeb:

"It is a good thing that it [MTD] will happen and there are an awful lot of very good things that could be done there, but they need to be in the right order. 

They need to be thought-out and we need time to bed it all in. The problem is, hardly a day goes by without yet another example of one part of HMRC not talking to another. It really doesn’t give you confidence that it will be ready in just over a year’s time. 

That timescale is the big problem they’ve got.

They probably recognise that thinking it through would be nice, but they haven’t got time to think about what they’re doing before they do it because they’ve got to get it done by next April. They’ve got to leap before they look.”

According to Jackson, HMRC is proposing to tackle MTD in the wrong order.

"Get a platform in place that’s optional to use, get that working, when we know that works make it mandatory and start bringing in the other stages.

But until you’ve got the operating system installed you can’t be forcing people to use the applications."

The question is, will HMRC listen?


Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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 Snooper Computer

The media are reporting details of HMRC's alleged new 'supercomputer' called Connect, that will be used to track down those who have under declared their tax liabilities.

The Connect system uses information from a range of government and corporate sources to create a profile of a taxpayer’s total income, rather than relying on what the taxpayer declares on their tax return.

When this information differs, the account is flagged up and could be the subject of a further investigation by HMRC.

Apparently Connect has been years in the making, and is thought to have cost £100 million to build.

As to whether reality matches the hype, only time will tell!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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 Crashed

Oh dear hmrc online down?

— Sue Christensen (@taxqueen49) January 10, 2017

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Relocation, Relocation, Relocation!

The National Audit Office has today published a report that rubbishes HMRC's plans to reduce the costs of running its estate.

The NAO wants HMRC to adjust the scope and timings of the project, in order to reduce the risk of service disruption.

As of November 2016, HMRC was responsible for one million square metres of buildings across the country, making it the fourth-largest estate in central government. Annual estate running costs stood at £269m in 2015-16, which pays for the accommodation of 58,600 staff.

Under the programme, HMRC will transition from 170 widely dispersed offices to 13 regional centres, with an additional four specialist sites and a central London headquarters. This will see 137 offices close by 2021 and involve 38,000 employees moving to the regional centres or leaving the department altogether. Some may need to relocate by up to 174 miles if they want to keep their jobs.

The scale of the savings that HMRC can make is limited by its Private Finance Initiative contract with Mapeley, which does not expire until 2021.

Under this deal, HMRC sold its freehold properties, which amounted to two-thirds of the estate, to Mapeley for £370m, then immediately leased them back, with Mapeley providing facilities management and maintenance services.
 

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, is quoted by Public Finance: 

“HMRC has improved the handling of its current contract with Mapeley and achieved better outcomes, though significant risks remains.

Looking ahead, HMRC has acknowledged its original plan for regional centres was unrealistic and is now re-considering the scope and timing of the programme.”

He advised HMRC to “step back and consider whether this strategy still best supports its wider business transformation and will deliver the sustainable cost saving it set out to achieve in the long run”.

The legacy of Mapeley!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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 Latest Scam HMRC Email

The latest @HMRCcustomers SCAM email looks like this.
If you receive such an email DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK
It's a scam pic.twitter.com/9vIReVDApu

— CheapAccounting (@cheapaccounting) January 9, 2017

How ironic, one hour after posting this I received the following in my inbox:

GOV.UK

HM Revenue & Customs

New message Dear Customer , We have detected that you have paid too much in the past, due to an official error. Therefore, HMRC applied ESC B41 to issue a repayment to tax years which are now out of date under the strict statute. Tax refund : £395,61 Please click here to access the secure web form. Completed return amounts take 1 to 2 days to appear on your account. From HMRC.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"

Going For A Gong - Sarah Pearson

Congratulations to Sarah Pearson, head of HMRC customer services, for her MBE.

What more can be said?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance 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 Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



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"