The Return of Taxpayers' Charter - HMRC's Attempt To Look Busy

Remember The Taxpayers' Charter?

Well HMRC, in an attempt to look busy, want your views on a revised version of it:

Open consultation

HMRC Charter

Published 24 February 2020

From:

HM Revenue & Customs

Summary

We are seeking views on our draft revisions to the HMRC Charter. The charter sets out the standard of behaviour and values that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) aspires to when interacting with customers – what you can expect from us and what we can expect from you.

This consultation closes at
11:45pm on 15 May 2020

Consultation description

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) deals with the tax and payments affairs of almost every business and individual in the UK. HMRC’s Charter sets out the relationship HMRC wants with its customers and what customers can expect from us.
The HMRC Charter is a legal requirement under the Finance Act 2009. The legislation states that the Charter ‘must include standards of behaviour and values to which Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will aspire when dealing with people in the exercise of their functions’.
HMRC is committed to improving its customer experience and proposes that HMRC’s Charter is used to define the service and standard of behaviour that customers should expect when interacting with us. It is due to come into effect by the summer of 2020.
You can read the current HMRC Charter.

Ways to respond

These questions may help you structure your feedback, but you can provide general comments or limit your feedback to particular areas:

• do you think the draft charter sets the right standards for HMRC’s service to customers (Part 1)?
• to what extent do you feel the draft charter sets out the areas that are most important to customers when interacting with HMRC?
• how you would like to see HMRC measure and monitor how it is performing against the charter, including how we can best listen to feedback and make improvements (Part 2)?

Documents

Consultation: HMRC Charter

HTML

Ways to respond

Email to:

HMRC.Charter@hmrc.gov.uk

Write to:

HMRC Charter Team,
Customer Insight and Design Directorate,
9th Floor, 10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf,
London E14 5AB

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

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HMRC's "Secret" Tax Investigation Unit

HMRC has created a secretive unit to investigate the use of family investment companies by the very wealthy to avoid inheritance tax, putting family offices with an estimated $1tn-plus in assets in its sights.

HMRC set up the team last April to target the issue of FICs. The creation of the new unit, which was not previously disclosed, comes amid growing concern about inequality and the perception that the wealthy avoid taxes by using sophisticated legal instruments.

HMRC only revealed the existence of the new investigations unit, which sits inside its Wealthy and Mid-sized Compliance Directorate, only after a freedom of information request was filed by Pinsent Masons’ public relations company. 

In a statement to the FT, HMRC said:

"The Family Investment Company team was established . . . in April 2019 to look at FICs and do a quantitative and qualitative review into any tax risks associated with them with a focus on inheritance tax implications. The team’s work is exploratory at this stage and as such, we would not like to share any more details.” 

Not so "secret" now!


Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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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"

Atalian Servest Acquires Another HMRC Contract

Atalian Servest has been awarded its fourth contract with HMRC in less than 18 months.

The global service provider has been providing cleaning, catering and security at HMRC’s Newcastle office since May 2018.

The latest deal adds another 14 sites to the company’s existing partnership with HMRC.

Services to the new sites will include cleaning, catering, reception, waste management, grounds maintenance, pest control, portering and mail. The company will deploy approximately 250 staff at the additional sites.


Daniel Dickson, CEO of Atalian Servest UK & Ireland, is quoted by FMJ:  

“The opportunity to provide services for even more HMRC sites demonstrates the strength of the partnership we are building. HMRC is on a journey to transform the way the organisation and its people work. With our excellent track record in corporate services and contract innovation, Atalian Servest is perfectly positioned to help the organisation achieve these bold objectives.”

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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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 Out of Step With Credit Card Ban

HMRC has been accused of being ‘out of step’ with other large commercial organisations over its ban on the use of credit cards by individuals to pay their tax bills, leaving some unable to pay and facing penalties

This decision taken two years ago gives rise to particularly acute problems at this time of the year, as self assessment taxpayers normally have to pay around half their tax bill for the year by 31 January, says UHY Hacker Young.

Clive Gawthorpe, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said:

‘HMRC wants to be more customer focused so refusing to accept credit cards just seems remarkably unhelpful and anachronistic. The rule can lead to big financial penalties for taxpayers who are already struggling.

With so many other organisations like budget airlines now accepting credit cards without any charges it does make this policy from HMRC look out of step.’

Such a pity he used the word "customer"!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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Please click here for details.


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"

Sunak's Light IR35 Touch

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has bowed to industry pressure over IR35 tax changes by promising enforcement will not be “heavy-handed”.

He is quoted by CityAM:

“I’ve spent time with HMRC to ensure they are not going to be at all heavy handed for the first year to give people time to adjust as well which I think is an appropriate and fair thing to do."

No worries then!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Please click here for details.


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"

Harra Lives In The Clouds

Jim Harra has published his assessment summary of HMRC's "Securing Our Technical Future" programme, backing up an earlier conclusion by the department’s former accounting office Sir Jonathan Thompson that the programme will provide value for money and is deliverable.

The programme involves migrating from existing data centres to cloud based hosting or the Crown Hosting service, along with a review of any vulnerabilities in the legacy IT estate of more than 600 services.

Harra says this is costly to run and lacks agility, and that the new programme will enable HMRC to generate more cost-effective arrangements with suppliers and give itself a more resilient and flexible infrastructure.

He added that there is no requirement for any legislative or regulatory change to make it happen, and that the programme takes in effective controls to protect data from customers and other government departments.

The assessment acknowledges that there will be challenges but says the programme has already passed several milestones successfully, including an independent assurance review and HM Treasury approval of the business case. Further Treasury approvals are planned as the programme progresses.

Harra also says that if any of the main factors change he will produce a revised summary.

Sorted!

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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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 Call Waiting Times Soar

The Telegraph reports that taxpayers turning to HMRC for help with their tax affairs are hanging up before even getting through on the phone, as call waiting times have surged.


For the first time in years, HMRC exceeded its average five-minute waiting time per call target in 2019, the latest figures to the end of December, released this month, showed.

The average length of time taxpayers had to wait on the phone before being able to speak to an adviser increased by almost 40pc compared to the previous year and by more than 50pc when compared with 2017. On average, taxpayers waited six and a half minutes to get through on the phone in 2019, but others waited far longer.

Nearly 30pc of callers were left on hold for more than 10 minutes last year, a massive increase on the previous year, when just 17pc of callers were left waiting for 10 minutes or more.

Close to four million people hung up the phone while on hold and did not call back over the past nine months, according to the official figures.

An HMRC spokesperson said:

“We are very sorry that some of our customers have waited too long to get through to our helplines over the last year. We’ve taken steps to improve our service and our average waiting times are currently around our five-minute target.

We’ve introduced a range of popular digital services like web-chat and online tax accounts so more customers are getting what they need without having to call us. But we know that some customers want to talk to us directly and we’re doing all we can to keep all waiting times as low as possible.”

HMRC really doesn't want to interact with taxpayers directly.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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Freelancers Suffer Mental Health Problems Because of IR35 Changes

As per The Telegraph:

"Freelancers are close to having nervous breakdowns and some are considering suicide over tax rule changes that have inadvertently left them struggling to make ends meet. 

Almost a third of self-employed contractors are experiencing anxiety or suicidal thoughts due to the impact of the impending reforms coming into force in April, according to a study by tax firm InniAccounts.

Tax rules for off-payroll workers, also known as “IR35”, have been in place since 2000. Currently, contractors assess their own tax status, but April's reforms will shift this responsibility to businesses.

The regime change is designed to stop “disguised employees” gaming the system, working in a permanent position in a company without paying the same income tax or National Insurance as normal workers.

However, scores of innocent freelancers have been caught out, as large businesses have decided to stop working with contractors altogether, for fear of getting into a dispute with the tax authority. 

It means many have been left out of work for months, or told they can only continue working if they are paid the same as everyone else, meaning higher taxes, less take-home pay and all without the benefits like sick pay and annual leave permanent staff enjoy. 

Telegraph Money spoke to some of those struggling to cope. They asked for their full names to be withheld. 

Ronald, 53, has been contracting for nine years as a software developer, working for banks, insurers and other financial institutions, but suddenly found himself out of work for five months after taking a two-week holiday last summer. 

He said he was heading for a “mental breakdown” and was prescribed antidepressants by his GP to help him cope with his anxiety.

“I was crawling the walls at home. I feel useless if I’m not doing anything and I have never been out of work that long in my life,” he said. 

He took on a new contract in November with a smaller firm, which does not have to comply with the new rules, although he has accepted a significant pay cut and now faces a two-hour commute. 

“The bigger firms just aren’t hiring anymore. Being out of work has depleted my savings and now I am living pay cheque to pay cheque. If I can’t get back to earning close to what I was before, I will end up defaulting on my mortgage. I feel like my career is coming to an end,” he said. 

Mark, aged 41, has worked freelance in cyber security for banks, insurers and in the public sector for six years, but has not been able to find any new work since December. 

He said his doctor had prescribed him beta blockers for his stress, anxiety and panic attacks. He uses the text messaging charity service Shout for support when he feels lowest.

“I still cry a lot and have two young children to provide for. Unless businesses start changing their approach, I will have to go back to full-time employment,” he added. 

Elise, 49, who has Asperger's syndrome, is also having to face the prospect of returning to working in an office full-time. 

“Because of my condition, this would be impossible for me. I’d inevitably have to commute to London, where all the jobs are. This means big crowds, more social interaction and office politics, which I cannot deal with, and it’s a cause of huge anxiety.

“I’ve been a freelancer working in IT since 1999 and have been able to work from home and make a living in spite of the disorder,” she said. 

She added that she has no work lined up for the new tax year and, with the only other option to return to full-time employment, she would either downsize and live off working smaller jobs or move to France to continue working there. 

A spokesman for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said it had policies in place to provide extra help with people finding dealing with their tax affairs stressful. 

“The off-payroll reforms don’t stop people working through their own companies; they help ensure the right tax is paid. They ensure consistency in the administration of the off-payroll working rules across all sectors. We don’t want to penalise anyone, just help them get the tax right,” they said.  

It follows HMRC’s controversial “loan charge”, which sought to recover back taxes for tax avoidance schemes once considered legal and promoted by respectable firms. Campaigners say as many as seven affected individuals facing thousands in disputed tax bills have taken their own lives over the policy.

The April IR35 changes are now the subject of a review by HM Treasury, looking at how to smooth the transition to the new system, which is expected to conclude at the end of the month.  "

Tax does have to be taxing.

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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"

Budget Confirmed for 11 March

Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirms March 11 as Budget date - but will miss G20 as he rushes to get ready in time.
Story here ...https://t.co/Zp6xEURLVC

— Joe Murphy (@JoeMurphyLondon) February 18, 2020

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountants (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Please click here for details.

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 Seeks Harra's Replacement (After His Promotion)

 

Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary

HM Revenue and Customs

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 5th April 2020

Reference number

41647

Salary

£150,000 - £160,000

Grade

SCS Pay Band 4

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

HMRC - CEO Group - Other

Type of role

Senior leadership

Working pattern

Full-time

Number of posts

1

Location

London

About the job

Summary

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is one of the largest government departments and one of the UK’s biggest organisations. Almost every individual and business in the UK is a customer of HMRC. We collect the taxes that pay for the UK’s public services and provide financial support for families.

Our vision is to be a trusted, modern tax and customs department, and our strategic objectives are to:

• collect the right tax and pay out the right financial support
• make it easy to get tax right and hard to break the rules
• treat everyone fairly and protect society from harm, and
• make HMRC a great place to work.

We will deliver these objectives with our values of professionalism, integrity, respect and innovation.

We collect around £628 billion a year in revenue from 45 million individual customers and 5.4 million businesses across the UK and pay £25.9bn tax credits to 3.3m families. We handle more than 50 million customer calls and answer around 15 million items of customer correspondence every year. We lose £35bn tax and around £1.5bn tax credits and Child Benefit each year through non-payment, error and fraud.

Job description

The post-holder reports to the Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary of HMRC.

The role of the Permanent Secretary is to lead the day-to-day running of the department and to head up our Executive Committee (ExCom). As Accounting Officer, the Permanent Secretary is accountable to Parliament for the department’s expenditure and performance and advise ministers on our strategy and objectives.

As Deputy Chief Executive you will have a pivotal leadership role, responsible for implementing the departmental strategy through the transformation and delivery of HMRC’s operational and compliance services. You will lead over 50,000 of our people.

You will be a pivotal leader in HMRC at a time of critical importance for our organisation and will have oversight of our major transformation portfolio, from the introduction of digital services for businesses to the department’s move to a network of Regional Centres.

As Deputy Chief Executive you will be a key member of HMRC’s Executive Committee. You will demonstrate and champion HMRC’s values and play a primary role in the collective leadership of the Civil Service as a whole, personifying inspiring, confident and empowering leadership. Together with the First Permanent Secretary you will be influential in role modelling and championing respect, inclusion and systems leadership both within HMRC and across the civil service, creating the culture and conditions where collective and problem led leadership can flourish in tackling complex challenges across organisational boundaries. You will support the development of systems focused leadership capability across HMRC and seek to build strong and diverse pipelines of talent.

Responsibilities

• Play a core leadership role across HMRC and the wider Civil Service. You will be expected to be an active and visible Deputy Chief Executive, supporting in the leadership of our Executive Committee and working with colleagues to role model and embed HMRC’s values across the organisation. You will be fundamental in building an inclusive workforce and culture to make HMRC a great place to work.
• Implement HMRC’s strategy and deliver our operational and compliance services to make tax compliance easy and fair.
• Be accountable for the operational arm of HMRC; our Customer Compliance and Customer Services Groups.
• Oversee delivery of our major transformation portfolio, driving the most ambition reform of the tax system in a generation and meeting our Spending Review commitments.

Benefits

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension

Things you need to know

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting.

Selection process details

Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA) has been appointed to support this recruitment. Short-listing of candidates will involve the assessment of information provided in the application documentation detailed in the candidate information pack.

The closing date for applications is 23:55 Sunday 5 April 2020. All applications will be acknowledged and considered by the selection panel.

Please submit materials requested in the candidate information pack by email to Responses@RussellReynolds.com prior to advert closing at 23:55, Sunday 5 April 2020.

Please include a daytime, evening and mobile telephone contact number, and your preferred email address for correspondence, which will be used with discretion.

The provisional timetable is as follows:

Long-listing w/c 13 April 2020
RRA Interviews w/c 20 & 27 April
Short-listing w/c 4 May 2020
Assessments w/c 11 & 18 May 2020
Panel Interviews w/c 25 May 2020

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :
Name :		Lorcan Lennon (Russell Reynolds)
Email :		Responses@RussellReynolds.com
Recruitment team :
Email :		Responses@RussellReynolds.com

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles, which can be found at this address: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment and if you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact Carol Maye at carol.maye@cabinetoffice.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at this address: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/civilservicerecruitmentcomplaints/

www.gov.uk/hmrc

Follow link to apply

Responses@RussellReynolds.com

Attachments

Annex C and D - HMRC 2PS 2020 - Diversity Information and Guaranteed Interview Forms Opens in new window (docx, 18kB)

Candidate Information Pack - HM Revenue & Customs (Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary)

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

You have the peace of mind knowing that your accountants (your tax return agent) fees will be paid by the insurance without any Excess for you to find.

Please click here for details.

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 Valentine's Day Proposal From HMRC

HMRC is proposing to married couples and those in civil partnerships to sign up to a £250 tax break this Valentine’s Day (14 February, 2020).

More than 1.78 million couples are already committed to the Marriage Allowance boost, but it is estimated more than 2 million are missing out on up to £250 this year. If their claim is backdated, they could even receive up to £1,150. This is the last chance for eligible couples to backdate their claim for the 2015 to 2016 tax year as the deadline for doing so is 5 April 2020.

Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said:

"Applying for Marriage Allowance is a quick and easy way for married couples and people in a civil partnership to have £250 or more put back in their pockets.

It’s fantastic to see so many couples have already put a few minutes aside to apply, and we hope many more will sign up this Valentine’s Day to take advantage of this tax relief."

Marriage Allowance lets people with income of £12,500 or less, transfer up to £1,250 of their Personal Allowance to their husband, wife or civil partner – if their income is higher. This reduces their tax by up to £250 for the 2020 to 2021 tax year. Claims can also be backdated four years to April 2015. After 5 April 2020, couples will only be able to claim back to the 2016 to 2017 year.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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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"

Chancellor Resigns - Budget In Four Weeks

The PalArse of Westminster: Sajid Javid Resigns https://t.co/luAAPl9sUU pic.twitter.com/Yve25SGq9Y

— Ken Frost (@ken_frost) February 13, 2020

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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Please click here for details.

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"

Fujitsu To Axe HMRC Projects Staff

Despite the fact that HMRC's digital systems are "rickety" and unreliable, to say the least, it seems that Fujitsu is looking to cut back on its workforce that performs project work for HMRC.

The Register Fujitsu employees were told late last week that 82 people aligned with the customer account are at risk of redundancy and were entering into a 30-day consultation process with the ultimate leave date set for the close of March.

Company insiders said there are fewer projects and programmes being tendered by HMRC, which is exiting Fujitsu data centres and sending more work to Crown Hosting and cloud suppliers including Amazon Web Services.


Via the Securing Our Technical Future programme, HMRC is moving 600 services to the public cloud or Crown Hosting. The rationale being that HMRC is to have a more dynamic infrastructure that can scale and be updated where necessary.

A spokesperson at Fujitsu issued a statement:

"Fujitsu can confirm that 82 employees who work on the HMRC account have been put at risk of redundancy. The consultation process has now begun and it is anticipated that less than 30 per cent of these job roles will result in actual redundancy.

The roles will come from the Projects organisation and not from the core service delivery area. The trade unions Unite and PCS have been advised. We are working to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies through voluntary redundancies and redeployments to other areas of Fujitsu."

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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Please click here for details.

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"

Now You See It, Now You Don't!

On the 3rd of February HMRC let slip its much sought-after guidance on off-payroll working in the private sector, only to ‘un-publish’ it a few moments later and replace it with a blank screen.

ContractorUK reports that other than white space where the guidance was live momentarily, mid-morning visitors to HMRC’s Employment Status Manual site could only see: "Guidance withdrawn 3 Feb 2020."

Underneath the message -- displayed by clicking 33 new draft HMRC guidance manuals (titles still visible), a clearly up-against-it HMRC spluttered: ‘Will be republished in due course.’

By the afternoon, the six words were replaced with: “HMRC is committed to publishing an updated employment status manual reflecting the April 2020 reform changes as soon as possible.”

Asked what happened by ContractorUK, a HMRC spokesman responded by reading out the very same statement, but then admitted the ‘update’ was due to a “publishing error.”

In the event any of you have screen shots of the redacted pages, please feel free to share them!

Tax does have to be taxing.


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 Recruiting a Problem Manager

 

Problem Manager

HM Revenue and Customs

Apply before 11:55 pm on Friday 14th February 2020

Reference number

35624

Salary

£30,880

Grade

Higher Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

HMRC - CDIO - Cloud

Type of role

Information Technology

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Number of posts

1

Location

Telford

About the job

Summary

The Cloud Problem Manager is responsible for facilitating the resolution and controlling the root cause of incidents within the Cloud IT infrastructure. They also work with Cloud Operations to prevent the recurrence of these incidents.
The problem manager picks up feeds from numerous sources, such as the service desk, with the aim of putting in place continual improvement to stop incidents such as regular service outages recurring. Take an active role in investigating ways of preventing issues occurring and encouraging a culture of proactive problem investigation.

Job description

This role sits within a wider Enterprise Cloud Services (ECS) team that is transforming and expanding to enhance its HMRC Cloud Centre of Excellence offering. It is a diverse team of around 80+ individuals, creating a dynamic and inclusive working environment. Covering Cloud Service Design, Development, Operation and Governance.

The Problem Manager will have regular collaboration and play an influencing role with the HMRC Problem Management Community.

This role will need to both create and embed effective Problem Management alongside the existing incident management within CDIO Cloud.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Continual Service improvement of Problem Management area
• Ownership of Problem Management performance and reporting
• Working closely with High Priority Incident managers
• Perform Trend Analysis to minimise the impact of recurring incidents
• Review and submit problems for registration
• Maintain the Cloud Problem Procedure
• Actively pursue progress on problems and work-arounds
• Assist in the development of packages of problem fixes ensuring the package delivers the maximum benefit to the HMRC business
• Manage the Problem Backlog
• Root Cause Analysis / Lessons Learned Reports
• Manage and be responsible for the Known Error Log

Person Specification

Essential Criteria:

• Knowledge of Problem solving techniques (e.g. 5 Whys, Fishbone)
• Understanding of Incident/Problem Management and Knowledge Management Process

Benefits

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension

If you are applying for a role in an office within a regional center location or a transitional or specialist site, then the following may apply: Daily Travel Assistance will be available for this role, provided the successful applicant is a current HMRC employee and meets the eligibility requirements outlined in the department’s Daily Travel Assistance guidance.

Things you need to know

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

Selection process details

At application stage, you will be required to upload your CV detailing your work history and skills/duties within your career and in addition you will be required to upload a statement of suitability to outline how your skills and experience match the specification detailed above. A sift of all applications will be performed after the vacancy closing date.

The application sift will be based on the skills and experience outlined within the Job Specification.

The interview will be based on your skills and experience outlined within the essential criteria

Sift and Interview dates to be confirmed, but will be held in Telford.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Further Information

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Any move to HMRC will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement this will be tested as part of the selection process.

Security Update

If you are successful and transferring from another Government Department, we will carry out a check of your identity, nationality, and immigration status (including the right to work in the UK) and a criminal record check before confirming your appointment.

Successful candidates must pass a Disclosure and Barring Security Check. Please note that HMRC have an exemption under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, which enables us to make enquiries about both unspent and spent convictions.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

HMRC transformation

In November 2015, HMRC announced the next step in our ten-year modernisation programme to create a tax authority fit for the future, committing to high-quality jobs and the creation of new regional centres serving every region and nation in the UK. We set out our plans to consolidate into 13 large, modern offices, equipped with the digital infrastructure and training facilities needed to build a more highly-skilled workforce. These offices will be located in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Croydon and Stratford. There will also be a small number of specialist sites, where the work cannot be done anywhere else, in Gartcosh (near Glasgow), Telford, Ipswich, Worthing and Dover, as well as our headquarters in central London. In addition, our Welsh language service has people in specialist roles located in Porthmadog, as well as Cardiff. If you are recruited into an office that is not one of these locations, you will be expected, subject to HMRC’s applicable policies, to move to one of these locations in the future. In some cases this will be via a transitional site. If you are not a current civil servant, you will not be eligible for financial assistance for your move to the regional centre or a transitional or specialist site. If you are a current HMRC employee and you joined HMRC through an advert that was advertised on or after 11/01/2017, you will not be eligible for financial assistance for your move to the regional centre or a transitional or specialist site. This is in line with the terms of your original appointment to HMRC. For more information please contact the vacancy holder.

Terms and Conditions

Some of HMRC Terms and Conditions of employment changed on 1st May 2013, these will apply to people who are new recruits to HMRC or who take a new job in HMRC on promotion. The document attached to this advertisement provides more information on the changes we made, please note this is not a full list of HMRC's terms and conditions. If you need to discuss how these changes might affect you, please contact the vacancy holder. For further information on terms and conditions please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/about/recruitment#annual-leave

Pay

If you are currently working for an OGD and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Pay on Transfer from OGD" for further information.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :
Name :		Simon Hoddinott
Email :		Simon.hoddinott@hmrc.gov.uk
Telephone :		07823360148
Recruitment team :
Email :		hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/

Attachments

HMRC T&Cs Opens in new window (doc, 38kB)

OGD pay note 01.04.19 Transfer protocols v1 (1) Opens in new window (doc, 56kB)

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Having a Solar Protect Tax Investigation Insurance policy at your disposal means that should you be one of the many 1000's of businesses or individuals that are selected by HMRC each year to look into your tax affairs your own accountant (your tax return agent) can get on and defend you robustly.

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MTD - Another Fine Mess!

In irony of ironies, it seems that digital tax reforms designed to reduce the number of errors made by self-employed people on their tax returns have failed.

The Telegraph reports that the new system has also turned out to be vastly more expensive than businesses were led to believe.

Since April 2019, when MTD went live..sort of, VAT-registered businesses and self-employed people with a turnover above the £85,000 VAT threshold have been forced to use specialist software when filing their returns to HMRC.
 

A report by the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT), has warned that in 70% of cases the digital system has not reduced errors. In some cases, using the new software has increased mistakes. The vast majority of firms have also incurred higher than expected costs. 

Both the ATT and the Chartered Institute of Taxation have now jointly called for a comprehensive review into the digital reforms.

The costs of implementing the new digital requirements have also exceeded projections. HMRC stated that the average cost would be £109 for each affected business, but the ATT found that less than 10% of businesses have paid this sum.

Almost half (45%) of respondents said they paid between £109 and £500, with 12% claiming implementation cost them more than £5,000.

An HMRC spokesman said:

“Making Tax Digital for VAT is still in its first year and we completely understand that some businesses and their agents will need time to get used to the new system.  

We appreciate that while there are free products available, some businesses will have incurred software and training costs, but Making Tax Digital's enabling of digital records linked to HMRC’s systems will help to free up valuable time.”  

See, it's not HMRC's fault!

Tax does have to be taxing.


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"

Goosey Goosey Gander?

Find out how the government spends your tax.https://t.co/nveZC4WdGt pic.twitter.com/UqJgN1vss8

— HM Revenue & Customs (@HMRCgovuk) February 3, 2020

Please can someone explain to me the rational for HMRC using a goose in the post, and why Ta.x has a full-stop in it?

Tax does have to be taxing.


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"