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.
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.
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Hot on the heels of this, P.M.'s Q's, in response to Chris Brynt M.P.'s question including closure of all HMRC offices in Wales and transfer to Cardiff - the P.M. believes this will "...improve customer service..."
ReplyDeleteYou have been warned!
ROFL
This brings me to the excellent Labour MP Chris Bryant asking the Prime Minister today about tax office closures. Mrs May responded along the lines of centralising (which makes thousands of skilled staff redundant btw) is modernising HMRC and improving customer service - with shockers with their online system such as above, those who have to deal with HMRC can only see chaos and deteriorating 'customer' service ahead!
ReplyDeleteOh, and now an MP asks the PM about the Concentrix scandal at HMRC.... HMRC making the news for all the wrong reasons once again.
DeleteAnyone for a Kinghthood?
oppps, should say anyone for a KNIGHTHOOD?
DeleteYes, but the PM has stated that HMRC will learn from this!
DeleteI'm going to have to disagree with the PM on this...as a fact HMRC never learn from anything, but I am sure those who couldn't afford to eat due to that debacle have learnt never to trust HMRC again!
DeleteNow that BREXIT is beginning to hit perhaps we should be considering a seperate Customs/Excise/VAT Department like we used to have?
ReplyDeleteOn second thoughts!
Great idea. Can we also have Department's led by senior management who have worked hard to climb up from the bottom i.e. people who have done frontline work meeting the real public and put an end to the obsession with fast track senior civil service graduates. It would help improve service, yield, conduct & discipline and may go some way to supporting the social mobility agenda in action rather than the chattering class words we hear a lot of.
DeleteThe fact is that you do not get promoted knowing about tax , which is why i quit -the whole organisation is rammed either with refugees from DWP who have no interest in "upskilling " or managers who have made it their goal in life to avoid tax at all costs I had a manager managing 2 tax offices who was ex Heathrow -the only way forward is to go to accountants .The systems recording payments are shambolic , overseen by staff in Liverpool with little training . The fact is , like the NHS, the organisation is on a downward spiral , stuffed with career civil servants whose full time job is getting promoted, taxpayers are an occupational hazard to be avoided.
ReplyDelete18/1 @ 17:01 is quite right. What we are talking about here is opportunists always thinking about what they can do to spin on to their internal job application as an example of so-called 'leadership'. What's actually needed is staff who want to deliver excellent service to taxpayers; who want to collect overdue debts; who want to identify tax cheats to create a level playing field; who lead by example; who are capable of behaving like a normal person; and who want to do all this with great integrity and without fear or favour. Its a simple strategy for improvement however the people who do this are held back or bullied out. Incompetent bullies and those showing signs of narcissistic personality disorder and/or psychopathy are instead promoted and put in positions of power over their more capable colleagues with all the inevitable consequences. They may think its alright, any right minded person would call it a corrupt culture.
DeleteYes, I was accused of being "too knowledgeable" by my incompetent manager.
Deletemanagers who have made it their goal in life to avoid tax at all costs ..........This.....x 1000. Too many staff desperate to avoid " the network"..........
ReplyDeleteWell how about that? HMRC (clue: the tax dept) staff avoiding "tax at all costs". You really couldn't make it up. What's this about staff avoiding the network, what does this really mean? Is it staff sitting in ivory towers doing unproductive non-jobs leaving the frontline of real work short staffed????
DeleteThe late payment penalty that is charged on overdue amounts 30days after the due date of 31st January will not be levied on Payment on Account 1 for 16/17. It will be levied on any Balancing Payment for 15/16 that is still outstanding or not included in a time to pay.
ReplyDeleteClaim to reduce, in my experience, is often
ReplyDeleteabused as a way to delay payment. I've see way too many excessive claims to reduce year after year on people's records.
If claims to reduce are known to be abused, presumably depriving the exchequer of significant revenue at the right time, what are hmrc doing to stamp it out?
ReplyDeletePenalties are charged. I've come across one record with such penalties. All excessive claims to reduce have interest backdated to the original respective due dates of the payments on account.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Salter needs to revise his knowledge of the penalty regime for Self Assessment. Payments on Account (POA) do not attract penalties for late or non-payment whilst they are estimated. Salter' s client would not have received a penalty in March if the POA was still erroneously on the record. Only interest, which is at a low rate, would be charged. HMRC is a fuck-up but let us be accurate in our criticism.
ReplyDelete