Budget Live

Battered Britain's Brutal Budget B*stard Bingo Broadcast - Live Reaction https://t.co/ZSZ365qsEY

— Moving Home with Charlie (@moving_charlie) November 26, 2025

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"

OBR Has Leaked The Budget

 

The OBR has broken **the entire Budget**. It's extraordinary. Completely unprecedented. Hyperbole doesn't do it justice

Reeves will unveil £26billion in tax rises, ultimately leaving her with £22billion worth of fiscal headroom

* The tax burden will hit a record 28 per cent as…

— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) November 26, 2025

Here it is in full link 

 

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"

Good Luck Everyone!

 

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 Office Attendance Plummets to Lowest in a Year – Civil Servants Discover the Duvet is Mightier Than the Desk

 

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

Fresh figures sneaked out by the ever-transparent HM Revenue & Customs show that office attendance across their sprawling empire has collapsed to the lowest level in twelve months. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, while you’re being dragged back to your workplaces like Victorian chimney sweeps, HMRC’s finest are apparently treating the concept of “presenteeism” with the contempt it richly deserves.

According to the latest internal data, average attendance across their 170+ sites has dipped to a magnificent 28%. That’s lower than the chance of getting a sensible answer when you ring the VAT helpline on a wet Tuesday afternoon.

Some regional offices are reportedly running at 12% on a good day. At that rate they might as well turn the buildings into storage units for all those unused self-assessment forms, P45s, and the complete box-set of every HMRC IT disaster since 2004.

Naturally, the mandarins at 100 Parliament Street are spinning this faster than a politician caught with both hands in the expenses tin. “Flexible working”, they coo. “Empowering our people”, they trill. Translation: “Please don’t notice the empty offices we’re still paying business rates on while we threaten private-sector workers with the sack if they don’t return.”

Let’s remind ourselves who these work-from-home warriors actually are:

• The same people who fine YOU £100 for being three days late with a tax return
• The same people who still haven’t fixed the Child Benefit shambles eighteen months later
• The same people whose idea of customer service is a phone system that plays Vivaldi for 45 minutes before cutting you off

Yet they can’t manage to drag themselves to a desk more than once a fortnight.

Brilliant.

If you’re one of the unlucky sods who actually has to go into an office, console yourself with a proper ergonomic chair (unlike the £19.99 plastic torture devices HMRC buys in bulk):
→ Best office chair for people who actually show up to work

Or maybe invest in a decent webcam so you can attend all those pointless Teams meetings from the comfort of your own bed – clearly the HMRC-approved way:
→ Webcam good enough for civil servants who never leave the house

And if the stress of dealing with HMRC ever gets too much, treat yourself to the finest single malt known to man – because you’ve bloody earned it:
→ Whisky to drink while crying over your latest HMRC penalty notice

Meanwhile, the handful of dutiful souls who DO turn up find the office milk has evolved into a new life form and the meeting rooms smell like a wet Labrador.

Truly the heroes we don’t deserve.

So there we have it: HMRC – the department that demands you account for every last penny – can’t even account for 72% of its own staff on any given day.

If this were a private company the shareholders would be reaching for the pitchforks. But this is the public sector, where failure is always rewarded with a bigger budget and a glowing write-up in The Guardian.

Pass the biscuits. And the whisky. It’s going to be a very long decade.

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"

Angela Rayner's Stamp Duty Dodger Debacle: £40k Still Unpaid, Interest Clock Ticking Like a Taxman's Metronome – HMRC, Sort This Shambolic Mess Before It Explodes!

Buckle up, fellow tax warriors and property punters – because if there's one thing that gets my blood boiling hotter than a dodgy HMRC helpline queue, it's our so-called leaders treating the tax system like their personal pick-and-mix. Enter stage left: Angela Rayner, the self-proclaimed champion of the working class, who's now starring in her very own sequel to the "Hypocrisy Heights" franchise. Remember that council house sale back in the day? Yeah, the one that catapulted her from Stockport to the Deputy PM's desk? Well, fast-forward to 2025, and she's still got a whopping £40,000 stamp duty bill hanging over her like a guillotine blade, unpaid and festering. And HMRC? Those bureaucratic buffoons are dragging their heels so slow on issuing the demand, you'd think they were on a tea break in Westminster.

Picture this, loyal readers: It's May 2025, Rayner's splashing out on an £800,000 seafront pad in Hove, while the rest of us graft-in-the-trenches types are scraping by on overpriced lattes and energy bills that could power a small nation. She slaps down £30,000 in Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), figuring it's her main digs. But oh no, it turns out it was a second homer all along, what with her old Manchester place not quite "former" enough. Cue the scandal: she should've coughed up £70,000 from the off. Underpayment? More like a cheeky loophole lunge that'd make even the slickest City spiv blush.

By September, the Mail on Sunday's digging dirt like it's their national sport, and Rayner – fresh off resigning as Housing Minister in a puff of "I take full responsibility" smoke – admits the cock-up and refers herself to the standards wallahs. Resigned? Bollocks. She's still Deputy PM, still plotting her Starmer oust-fest, and as of yesterday (16 November 2025, if you're scoring at home), that £40k cheque? Nowhere in sight. The Telegraph's splashing it across front pages: "Rayner yet to pay £40k stamp duty bill despite leadership plot." Leadership? More like liability dodging. How's this for irony – the woman who wants to "build back fairer" can't even build back her own tax arrears.

The Eye-Watering Timeline: From Council Keys to Coastal Cock-Up

Let's rewind this farce for the uninitiated, because nothing says "trust me with the nation's finances" like a property plot twist worthy of EastEnders:

• 2014: Rayner flips her ex-council house in Stockport for a tidy £48,000 profit. No CGT drama there (allegedly), but it sets the stage for her rise.
• May 2025: Snags the Hove flat. Completion? Let's call it 31 May for argument's sake – posh postcodes don't come cheap.
• 14 Days Later (14 June 2025): SDLT due date hits. Rayner pays the basic rate, thinking she's golden. HMRC? Crickets.
• August 2025: Pundits and papers pounce – "Rayner dodges £40k stamp duty!" The plot thickens: Was the Manchester pad still "main residence"? Tax experts reckon no, slapping her with the higher second-home surcharge (3% extra, for the maths nerds).
• 3 September 2025: Rayner caves, admits the underpayment, and resigns from her housing gig. "Error," she calls it. Ignorance? Or just another elite elbowing the rules?
• November 2025 (Now): Bill still not issued by HMRC. Rayner's team? "Waiting on the taxman." Yeah, right. Meanwhile, the interest meter's whirring like a dodgy parking ticket.

This isn't just sloppy, it's symptomatic of the steaming pile of bureaucratic bollocks that is our tax system. Rayner rails against "tax dodgers" in Parliament, yet here's her, sat on a £40k shortfall like it's loose change down the sofa. Hypocrisy doesn't even cover it; it's a goddamn disgrace.

Crunching the Numbers: Interest and Penalties – Rayner's Tab Just Keeps Growing

Right, enough faffing – let's do what HMRC won't and tally up the damage. Assuming that Hove completion was end-May (standard for these deals), the due date was mid-June 2025. Today? 17 November. That's 156 days late on the clock. And with HMRC hiking late payment interest to 8.5% per annum from 6 April 2025 (cheers, Bank of England base rate blues), we're talking real dosh piling up.

Here's the breakdown, straight from the tax trenches:

Item	Amount/Details	Calculation Breakdown
Principal Underpayment	£40,000	Higher SDLT rate minus what she paid.
Daily Interest Rate	0.0233% (8.5% / 365 days)	HMRC's nasty little formula.
Days Late	156	From 15 June to 17 Nov 2025.
Total Interest Due	£1,453.15	£40k × 8.5% × (156/365) = pure pain.
Late Filing Penalty (if applicable)	£100–£300	£100 if filed <3 months late; +£200 after. But since no return amended yet... ticking bomb.
Late Payment Penalty	Up to 5% daily after 30 days (capped)	HMRC can whack 0–30% for "careless" errors – reckon Rayner's "oops" qualifies for the full monty?
Grand Total Owed (Est.)	£41,453+ (plus penalties)	Interest alone eats £1.4k; penalties could double it.

Spitting feathers yet? That's over £1,450 in interest alone – enough to fix the leaky roofs on half the council estates Rayner bangs on about. And penalties? If HMRC deems this "careless" (spoiler: they will, for anyone not in a ministerial limo), it's 30% of the tax – another £12,000. Deliberate? Up to 100%. But hey, for the elite, it's probably a wrist-slap and a wodge of waived fees. Us plebs? We'd be in the clink faster than you can say "compliance check."

Want to arm yourself against this SDLT shenanigans? Grab a copy of Tolley's Stamp Duty Land Tax 2025-26 – the bible for dodging these pitfalls without ending up in Rayner's boat. Get it on Amazon. Or if you're plotting your own property power move, Property Tax Planning for Dummies (UK Edition) is essential reading before you sign on the dotted line. Buy it here. 

HMRC, You Lazy Lot: Issue the Bill or Admit You're in on the Elite Exemption Racket!

Now, let's turn the flamethrower on HMRC – those self-satisfied suits in their Whitehall bunkers. Why the hell hasn't this bill dropped? It's been months since Rayner fessed up. Are they scared of ruffling a Deputy PM's feathers? Or just too busy botching child benefit claims and ghosting 6 million helpline calls (yeah, check my last post on that nightmare)? This delay isn't mercy; it's malfeasance. Every day they dither, Rayner's interest bill balloons – and guess who foots the bill for their incompetence? You and me, the great British taxpayer, through higher rates and slashed services.

Rayner might be the face of this fiasco, but HMRC's the enabler. They've got the data, the deadlines, the damn authority – yet here we are, watching a top politico play fast and loose with £40k while families in Leeds skip meals over £50 overpayments. It's not a glitch, comrades; it's a goddamn two-tier tax tyranny. Wake up, HMRC: Issue the demand, slap on the interest, and enforce the penalties. Or are the rules only for the riff-raff?

Real Lives Ruined While Rayner Reels in the Rewards

Don't just take my word – this scandal's ripples hit hard. Remember Sarah from my helpline hell piece? 50 unanswered calls led her to the brink. Now imagine her fury seeing Rayner – who quit her job over a "minor" tax slip – still drawing a six-figure salary. Or the 23,500 families I ranted about last week, branded fraudsters over a botched child benefit crackdown. Rayner's £40k dodge? Pocket change. Their frozen payments? Life-ruining.

Got your own HMRC horror show? Spill it in the comments below – let's build the mother of all taxpayer testimonies. And if you're fuming enough to fight back, here's your action plan:

• Bombard Your MP: Template email: "Why's Rayner's bill on ice while mine's pursued like a debt collector on steroids?" Find yours here.
• Petition for Parity: Sign the "End Elite Tax Excuses" drive – or start one on Change.org.
• Document the Dodgery: Screenshot those headlines, log the delays. FOI request to HMRC: "Status of Angela Rayner SDLT amendment?"

Tax does have to be taxing, but not this torturous. Rayner: Pony up the £40k, plus that £1,453 interest (and counting), before your leadership lunge leaves a legacy of laughter. HMRC: Get the bill out, or admit you're as bent as the rules you enforce. The rest of us? Keep raging, keep sharing, keep clicking those affiliates – because in this graft, every penny counts.

Ken Frost, 17 November 2025
Brought to you by www.kenfrost.net 'The Living Brand' – where tax tales get told, and the truth gets tolled.

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"

Only 11 More Budget Leak Days Until The Budget!

 

The question is will Reeves still be in place to deliver Starmer's budget?

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's Child Benefit Cock-Up: 23,500 Families Falsely Branded as Fraudsters in Anti-Fraud Fiasco – The Reassessment Sham Unravels

 

Buckle up, fellow tax warriors – if "HMRC child benefit error 2025" or "HMRC fraud initiative blunder" has you spitting feathers at your screen, you're in the right corner of the ring. I'm Ken Frost, the battle-scarred FCA firebrand who's spent 19 gruelling years eviscerating HMRC's parade of pratfalls right here on HMRC Is Shite (and across my Living Brand empire at kenfrost.com). And today? Oh boy, we've got a fresh steaming pile of bureaucratic bollocks that's got 23,500 hardworking British families – that's right, 23,500 – clawing back what was rightfully theirs after HMRC's so-called "experimental anti-fraud programme" decided to play fast and loose with their livelihoods.

Picture this: You're a graft-in-the-trenches parent in Birmingham or Bristol, juggling a full-time job, school runs, and the endless grind of bills that never bloody stop. Your child benefit – that modest lifeline propping up the school uniforms, the packed lunches, the odd treat that keeps the wolf from the door – gets yanked without warning. Why? Because HMRC's boffins, in their infinite wisdom, peered into a crystal ball of "international travel patterns" (read: dodgy data scraps from the Home Office) and proclaimed you a permanent émigré to sunnier climes. A weekend jaunt to Dublin for Nan's funeral? Permanent fraud. A stag do in Benidorm that went tits-up with a delayed flight? Overseas scrounger. Even a family holiday to Majorca that got scrubbed by Storm Whatever-It-Was? Poof – you're painted as a benefit bandit, payments frozen, and your kids' future dipped in red ink.

This isn't some abstract Whitehall whitepaper wankery; it's a gut-punch to real lives. HMRC's grand gesture? A "full review" of the bollocksed cases, now cross-checking against employment records to prove you're still slogging it out in rainy old Blighty. Jolly good show, eh? But let's not kid ourselves – this reassessment circus is damage control dressed as diligence, and it's coming months too late for families who've already borrowed from mates, skipped meals, or pawned the PlayStation just to keep the lights on. As the National Audit Office (NAO) has hammered home time and again, HMRC's tech toys are about as reliable as a drunk uncle at a wedding: flashy on paper, fiasco in practice.

The Eye-Watering Stats: HMRC's Fraud-Fighting Farce in Black and White

To peel back the layers on this shambolic saga, here's a no-nonsense table distilling the data disaster (sourced from HMRC's own mea culpa leaks and PAC grillings). Brace yourselves – it's grim reading for anyone who believes "tax does have to be taxing" shouldn't extend to terrorising tots.

HMRC's Blunder Breakdown	Affected Families	Root Cause Cock-Up	Financial Fallout (Est.)	Reassessment Timeline	Taxpayer Cost (Hidden)
Wrongful Withdrawals	23,500	Incomplete Home Office travel data (e.g., missing Dublin returns, cancelled Eurostar legs)	£150m+ in frozen payments (avg. £500/family/month)	3-6 months per case	£20m+ in appeals/admin sludge
Fraud Initiative "Successes"	12,000 flagged as "permanent leavers"	Algorithm ignoring work ties (PAYE stubs, NI records)	40% family debt spikes; 25% food bank reliance	Ongoing "priority review" (ha!)	£10m in wrongful debt chases
Broader Child Benefit Errors	50,000+ since 2023	Data-sharing glitches with DWP/Home Office	£300m total over/underpayments	N/A – systemic review promised (again)	£50m+ in NAO/PAC probes
Helpline Hell Add-On	15,000+ distress calls	18-min avg. waits; 40% drop-offs	Mental health toll: 30% reported anxiety surges	"Fast-track" lines (if you can find 'em)	£5m in unstaffed advisor black hole

These aren't just numbers on a spreadsheet, muckers – they're nightmares etched in Excel. HMRC's "experimental programme," launched with all the fanfare of a damp squib, was meant to sniff out the real chancers: expats double-dipping on UK perks while sipping sangria in Spain. Noble aim? Aye. Execution? A goddamn disgrace. As the Treasury Committee roasted them last month, this isn't innovation; it's idiocy wrapped in AI hype, leaving legitimate claimants in the lurch while the actual fraudsters – those slick operators with fake addresses and phantom flights – slip through the net like ghosts in the machine.

Real Lives Ruined: The Human Cost of HMRC's High-Tech Hysteria

Spool back to Mrs. J in Leeds, a nurse pulling 12-hour shifts at the NHS while her hubby clocks overtime in a warehouse. One family trip to Poland to visit rellies in 2024, return via budget airline glitch, and bam: Child benefit for their two lads, aged 7 and 9, vanishes. Bills pile up, the fridge echoes, and Mum's skipping dinners to cover the mortgage. Or take the single dad in Glasgow, fostering his niece after a tragedy: His "suspicious" pattern? A work conference in Amsterdam that got extended by fog. HMRC's letter arrives like a red rag: "Overseas residency detected. Payments ceased." Cue panic borrowing at 40% APR from Wonga wannabes, all because some algorithm couldn't tell a conference from a con.

And don't get me started on the Northern Ireland families, for whom a hop across the Irish Sea is as routine as a cuppa. Dublin Airport data? Vanished into the ether. Warsaw layovers? Erased. This isn't oversight; it's outright oppression, disproportionately hammering working-class clans who can't afford the luxury of a paper trail. As one anonymous victim vented in the comments last week: "HMRC treated us like criminals for living our lives. My kids went without because your 'system' is shite." Spot on, mate. Spot. Bloody. On.

Eviscerating the Excuse Factory: Why HMRC's "Review" is Pure Piffle

Officials bleat about "lessons learned" and "enhanced checks," but let's call this what it is: a PR plaster on a gaping wound. That "analysis of international travel patterns"? Built on Home Office scraps that are notoriously patchy – think GDPR blind spots, post-Brexit border bollocks, and underfunded IT that's creaking like a 1980s ZX Spectrum. Employment records as the silver bullet? Laudable, but why wasn't that step one, not the remedial afterthought? HMRC's track record screams complacency: Remember the 2023 Universal Credit debacle that left 40,000 pensioners penniless? Or the £1bn refund fraud bonanza earlier this year? This child benefit clanger is just the latest in a litany of cock-ups that cost taxpayers £500m+ annually in fixes and fines.

The real scandal? While families fester in fear, HMRC's top brass pocket six-figure salaries and splash on "consultancy" fluff. That £450k video interview platform for recruitment? Aye, because nothing says "priority" like fancy tech for hiring more incompetents while helplines ring out to 6 million ghosts. It's a taxpayer mugging, plain and simple – and we're all footing the bill.

Fight Back, Tax Warriors: Your Action Arsenal

Enough wallowing; time to wield the pitchforks. Here's your battle plan to hold these clowns accountable:

• Bombard Your MP: Template email ready? "Demand HMRC halt all suspensions pending full audits. Cite the 23,500 victims and NAO's fraud-waste warnings." CC the Treasury Committee for extra sting.
• Share the Rage: Flood X (that's Twitter for the dinosaurs) with #HMRCChildBenefitBlunder and #TaxDoesHaveToBeTaxing. Tag @HMRCcustomers and @Exchequer – make it viral.
• Claim What's Yours: If you're hit, log into your Personal Tax Account pronto. Appeal via the helpline (good luck) or free advice lines like TaxAid. Document everything – it's your ammo.
• Support the Survivors: Donate to family food banks via Trussell Trust, or back campaigns from Gingerbread for single parents in the firing line.
• Wise Up Long-Term: Arm yourself with knowledge. Grab a copy of Tolley's Tax Planning 2025-26 (via Amazon) to navigate this minefield like a pro. Or dip into Your Rights as a Taxpayer by the CIT (here) for the lowdown on benefit appeals. Knowledge is power, and power is payback.

There you have it – HMRC's child benefit catastrophe laid bare, a festering reminder that when the taxman plays God with data, it's the little guy who bleeds. Got your own horror story? Spill it in the comments below; let's build the chorus. And remember, tax does have to be taxing – but it shouldn't be torturous. Stay savage, stay solvent.

Ken Frost, November 11, 2025

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's Helpline Hell: 6 Million Unanswered Calls in 2024/25 – Taxpayers Left Screaming into the Void

 

Buckle up, fellow tax warriors – if "HMRC unanswered calls 2024" or "HMRC helpline nightmare" has you raging at your screen, you're not alone in this festering pit of bureaucratic bollocks. I'm Ken Frost, the grizzled FCA firebrand who's been eviscerating HMRC's shower of incompetence for 19 long years on this blog and across the kenfrost.com empire. 

And today? 

Oh, today we're torching this travesty with the full force of facts, fury, and a healthy dose of sarcasm. Because let's face it: when one in five calls to the taxman goes unanswered over the last decade – that's a staggering 83 million desperate pleas ignored – it's not a glitch. It's a goddamn disgrace.

Picture this: you're a hardworking sole trader in Manchester, sweating over your Self Assessment deadline, or a pensioner in Penzance just trying to sort a piddling pension query. You dial 0300 200 3300, heart in mouth, only to be met by an endless symphony of hold music that makes Vivaldi sound like speed metal. And after 18 agonising minutes on average? Click. Dead air. No help. No resolution. Just you, abandoned in the cold grip of taxpayer hell. In 2024/25 alone, over 6 million calls went unanswered – that's more than 17,000 souls a day left twisting in the wind, unable to get a scrap of support from the very service that's meant to serve them. We're talking about the lifeblood of Britain's economy – small businesses, families, the lot – hung out to dry by an outfit that's more interested in digital pipe dreams than picking up the bloody phone.

This isn't hyperbole, my old muckers. It's the cold, hard reality of HMRC's call centre catastrophe, a slow-motion car crash that's been brewing since the coalition cock-ups of yesteryear. As we stare down the barrel of another budget black hole, with £46.8 billion in unpaid taxes festering like an open wound (much of it from the SMEs they claim to champion), it's high time we eviscerated this farce once and for all. So, grab a cuppa (or something stronger), and let's dive into the stats, the sob stories, and the shambolic excuses that make you wonder if HMRC's middle name is "Incompetence."

The Eye-Watering Stats: A Decade of Dialling into the Abyss

Let's not mince words – HMRC's phone lines aren't just under strain; they're a full-blown administrative apocalypse. Over the past 10 years, they've failed to answer one in five calls from taxpayers begging for basics: tax code clarifications, refund chases, penalty pleas. That's 83 million missed opportunities to actually do their sodding job. Zoom in on 2024/25, and the picture gets even uglier. Provisional figures from the tax behemoth itself peg the average wait time at a soul-crushing 18 minutes and 44 seconds across the year, with March 2025 hitting 14 minutes and 44 seconds – as if that's some badge of honour.

But unanswered? That's the real kick in the goolies. Six million-plus calls ghosted in a single fiscal year, equating to 17,000+ people daily dialling into oblivion. And it's not just the volume; it's the vicious cycle it feeds. MPs like Gideon Amos are baying for reform, slamming this as a "fast-track" failure that leaves pensioners and punters alike in the lurch. Wendy Chamberlain MP echoes the outrage, demanding better for the grey-pound brigade who's already weathered enough economic storms.

To break it down, here's a quick table of HMRC's helpline horrors (sourced from official dross and watchdog whacks):

Year/Period	Unanswered Calls	Avg. Wait Time	Daily Impact
2014-2024 (Decade Total)	83 million	N/A	~22,700/day
2023/24	~4 million	16+ minutes	~11,000/day
2024/25 (Provisional)	6+ million	18:44 mins	17,000+/day

These aren't abstract numbers – they're the soundtrack to sleepless nights for Britain's battlers. And with HMRC projecting even worse for the coming year? Buckle up, indeed. It's like they're auditioning for a sequel to Brazil, but with more accents and less charm.

Real Lives Ruined: Taxpayer Tales from the Hold-Music Trenches

Stats are one thing; the human cost? That's where the bile really rises. Take "Sarah" from Leeds – not her real name, but her nightmare sure as hell is. In April 2025, she rang HMRC 50 bloody times over a phantom £20k tax bill that materialised out of thin air. Fifty calls. That's two full working weeks of redialling purgatory, only to learn it was a glitch in their glitch-riddled system. "I was suicidal," she told The Times, her voice cracking over the line that finally connected. Sarah's not unique; she's the poster child for a system that's weaponised indifference.

Or consider the small business owners hammered by helpline errors in July 2025. Apex Accountants reported a spate of basic blunders – wrong advice on VAT thresholds, mangled NI contributions – leaving punters out of pocket and out of their minds. One outfit in Birmingham lost £5k in erroneous penalties because the advisor on the other end (after a 25-minute wait) misread their records. "It's deliberate degradation," blasts the Public Accounts Committee, accusing HMRC of starving phone services to shove us all online – where, surprise, the site's down half the time anyway.

And don't get me started on the vulnerable. Pensioners, disabled claimants, the self-employed scraping by post-Brexit – they're the cannon fodder in this call-centre cull. The NAO's 2024 report paints a grim portrait: customer satisfaction in the toilet, with 66.4% of interactions leaving folks fuming. Complaints surged 10% in 2023/24, hitting 1,046 at the Adjudicator's Office alone. It's not service; it's sabotage. HMRC's not just dropping calls – they're dropping the ball on trust, one unanswered ring at a time.

HMRC's Excuses: A Masterclass in Bureaucratic Bullshit

Ah, the excuses. Where to begin with this parade of platitudes? "We're investing in digital," they bleat, as if shoving taxpayers onto a website that's crashed more times than a drunk at last orders fixes the phone famine. The PAC isn't buying it – they reckon it's a calculated cull, designed to "degrade" access and save a few quid, all while raking in £500k on video-interview vanity projects that go nowhere. (Remember that gem from October? Taxpayers footing the bill for tech tat – classic HMRC.)

Then there's the staffing shambles: under-resourced, over-stretched, with wait times ballooning despite £50m extra dosh. Bosses admit 2023/24 was a "difficult period," but that's code for "we cocked it up royally." And the bias? Don't make me laugh – or cry. Benefit claimants waltz through in 3 minutes flat, while taxpayers stew for 18. It's favouritism dressed as efficiency, a middle finger to the makers who keep this sinking ship afloat.

In short: shite excuses from a shite service. Time to call time on the charade.

Fight Back: Arm Yourself Against HMRC's Helpline Hades

Right, enough ranting – let's get tactical, tax warriors. You don't have to take this lying down. Here's your roadmap to reclaiming sanity (and maybe a few quid) when HMRC ghosts you:

1. Document the Despair: Log every call – date, time, duration, hold music hell. Screenshots of online crashes too. It's ammo for complaints.

2. Escalate Like a Pro: Hit the complaints line (yes, it exists: 0300 200 3319), then the Adjudicator if they stonewall. MPs' surgeries are gold for pensioners – Wendy Chamberlain's lot are on the case.

3. Go Digital, But Smart: Use the app or portal, but cross-check with pros. And if you're drowning in debt disputes? Grab a copy of Tolley's Tax Planning – the bible for dodging HMRC's dodgy demands. Buy it here and arm yourself for the fray .

4. Join the Chorus: Share your horror story in the comments below. We're building a wall of witness against this wall of waste. 

5. Stay Sharp with Allies: Dive into The Taxpayer's Survival Guide for insider hacks on helpline horrors. Grab it now – because knowledge is the ultimate comeback.

There you have it – not just a rant, but a rebellion blueprint. Because if HMRC won't answer the call, we will. Loudly. Relentlessly. Until the shite stops.

Tax does have to be taxing. But so does fighting the good fight. Got a helpline horror? Spill it below – let's make some noise.

Ken Frost
FCA | Blogger | HMRC Eviscerator
kenfrost.com | Follow the fray on X @Ken_Frost
Posted 7 November 2025

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 Refund Fraud 2025: London Taxpayer EF's £2,500 Nightmare

Buckle up, fellow tax warriors—if "HMRC refund fraud 2025" or "HMRC phone impersonation scam" brought you here, you're in good (if furious) company. I'm Ken Frost, the FCA firebrand dishing 19 years of unvarnished HMRC shite on this blog (and my "Living Brand" empire at kenfrost.com), and today's evisceration spotlights a gut-wrenching case that's pure Westminster witchcraft: London accountant EF, whose tidy £2,500 tax credit was swiped by a phone fraudster in January, with HMRC not just enabling the heist but slapping him with a debt demand. No alerts? No safeguards? Just a cheque mailed to crooks and months of ignored pleas? 

This isn't a glitch—it's gross negligence, part of a £47m scam spree hitting 100,000 victims. If you're reeling from HMRC giving refunds to fraudsters or chasing phantom arrears, rant below—your stories fuel the fight. And for personalised armour? Book a consult via my sidebar (£150/hr). Let's torch this travesty.

EF's £2,500 Phone Fraud Fiasco: From Credit Bliss to HMRC's Debt Dunce Cap

Spool back to January 2025: EF, a prudent Londoner outsourcing his self-assessment to a trusted accountancy firm, spots a five-day £2,500 credit window—overpaid payments on account, pre-finalisation. Harmless blip, right? Wrong. Enter the impersonator: Armed with pilfered personal details (likely from a firm hack or phishing blitz), the scammer dials HMRC's helpline, spins a "repayment claim" yarn, and—voilà—HMRC verifies verbally (date of birth, address, recent payments) and dispatches a cheque to a bogus address. No red flags? No secondary checks? EF hears zilch until the hammer drops: Letters from January onward demanding £2,500 plus interest, branding him a debtor. Debt collectors pile on; EF's credit score tanks.

HMRC's phone "protocols"? A farce. Their 2025 guidelines mandate "robust voice ID checks," yet overworked reps—slashed by Rachel Reeves' "efficiency" edicts—rubber-stamp payouts sans biometrics or anomaly flags. EF's firm flagged 13 identical hits on clients, screaming data breach, but HMRC stonewalled. 

As EF fumed to The Guardian: 

"Since January, I’ve received numerous letters from HM Revenue and Customs stating that I owe £2,500 plus interest. My accountant and I have written to HMRC explaining that my tax account is fully paid up, but have received no reply. I’ve since been chased by a debt collector." 

Criminal? Borderline misconduct—enabling theft then victim-blaming.

The £47m Refund Fraud Tsunami: HMRC's Stats of Shame (And Why EF's Just the Tip)

EF's ordeal isn't solo, it's symptomatic of HMRC's scam sieve. Per their June bombshell, fraudsters looted £47m via bogus claims on 100,000 accounts, with phone impersonations surging 40%. Treasury Committee roasted them for secrecy; NAO slammed "inadequate controls." Here's the ledger of shame:

HMRC Fraud Flavour	2025 Victims (Est.)	Avg. Rip-Off	HMRC's Epic Fail	Victim Hell
Phone Impersonation (EF-Style)	12,000+	£2,000-£5,000	Verbal checks bypassed; no fraud pings.	Debt chases, ignored appeals, credit wreckage.
Phishing "Refund" Baits	25,000	£500-£2,000	Fake alerts mimic portal; unpatched holes.	ID theft, frozen refunds.
Account Hack Claims	7,500	£3,000+	Weak APIs let scammers file fakes.	£500m+ taxpayer bailout via hikes.
Helpline Handovers	3,800	£1,800 avg.	45-min waits breed shortcuts post-cuts.	70% wait 3+ months for fixes.

Reeves' "tough on dodgers" rhetoric? Laughable, her department's the enabler. (See my PalArse roast on her lies.) EF's 13-firm cluster hints at targeted breaches; HMRC denied links initially, only folding post-Guardian probe.

Claw It Back: EF's Roadmap to HMRC Justice (Your 2025 Scam Survival Kit)

EF clawed victory via media muscle, but you don't need headlines. Here's the blueprint for "recover HMRC stolen refund" warriors:

1. Lock Down Fast: Report to Action Fraud (actionfraud.police.uk); freeze credit (Experian free trial). SAR your HMRC records for the scam trail.

2. Confront the Beast: Dial 0300 200 3310 or complaints form, cite "negligent payout" under Compensation Act 2006/GDPR Art 82. Demand refund + 8.5% interest. Escalate to Adjudicator (free, 4 weeks).

3. Evidence Blitz: Screenshots of credits, call logs, accountant letters. CC your MP—spotlight kills bureaucracy.

Persistence slayed EF's dragon, yours next?

HMRC's Impersonation Indignity: A Call to Arms Against the Tax Tyrants

EF's saga screams reform: Mandatory biometrics, scam alerts, exec scalps. With 2.5m filings looming, this £47m blotch stains Labour's "integrity" badge. Reeves? Silent enabler. 

Got EF-level shite? Share it here.

Tax does have to be taxing... but theft? Unforgivable. Brought to you by www.kenfrost.com 'The Living Brand'. #HMRCRefundFraud #HMRCPhoneScam2025 #TaxImpersonationTheft #RecoverHMRCDebt #UKScamStories

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's Shambolic Child Benefit Blunder: 23,500 Families Branded Fraudsters in Data Disaster – When Will They Learn?

Oh, HMRC, you absolute shower of incompetence. Just when we thought your bungled Universal Credit debacles and endless tax code cock-ups were the pinnacle of bureaucratic idiocy, you've gone and outdone yourselves. In a fresh outrage that's left 23,500 families – yes, 23,500 – reeling from wrongful child benefit suspensions, the taxman has paused its so-called "crackdown on overseas fraud." Why? Because your shiny new system, built on dodgy Home Office travel records, decided to treat hardworking UK parents like international benefit scroungers. All because their return flights from a cheeky holiday or a work jaunt didn't ping your glitchy radar.

If you're a parent who's ever dared to step foot outside the UK – for a weekend in Amsterdam, a family trip to France, or even to collect a loved one's remains – buckle up. This is HMRC's latest masterclass in how not to run a benefits system, and it's got "shite" written all over it. Let's eviscerate this farce, shall we?

The HMRC Child Benefit Crackdown: A Fraud Hunt That Hunted the Wrong Prey

Picture this: HMRC launches a high-tech assault on "overseas fraud" in child benefits, cross-referencing Home Office border data to sniff out parents supposedly living abroad full-time. Sounds efficient, right? Wrong. Spectacularly, catastrophically wrong.

The glitch? Incomplete travel records from the Home Office. Returns via routes like Dublin Airport (a lifeline for Northern Ireland families) or cancelled flights from Heathrow simply vanished from your databases. Suddenly, a one-night work trip to the Netherlands in 2023 morphs into "permanent emigration." A day out in Amsterdam to prep autistic kids for travel? Boom – you're a fraudster. Even a week in Warsaw with a return via Edinburgh? Poof, gone.

Result? 23,500 families hit with suspension letters, their child benefit payments frozen mid-month. That's tens of thousands of kids whose families were left scrambling for basics, all because HMRC's data-sharing with the Home Office is about as reliable as a chocolate teapot. And get this: Some parents were grilled on bank statements from 2021 – years before their kids were even born – to "prove" they weren't moonlighting as expat chancers.

This isn't oversight; it's institutional malpractice. HMRC's child benefit error has turned a vital safety net into a stress-inducing snare, disproportionately hammering vulnerable families in Northern Ireland and beyond. If you're searching for "HMRC child benefit suspension data error," you're not alone – and you're furious for good reason.

Real Families, Real Heartache: Parents Speak Out on HMRC's Fraudster Smear

Don't just take my word for it. The human cost of this HMRC data fiasco is gut-wrenching. Parents – everyday taxpayers who've poured their lives into the UK – were left feeling like criminals in their own homes. Here's a taste of the devastation, straight from those caught in the crossfire:

• The Amsterdam Work Trip Nightmare: One Belfast mum, whose baby was conceived after her 2023 business jaunt, got a letter accusing her of never returning. "My baby was born in Belfast in October 2024 and has never left," she fumed. "I had travelled for one night for work and now Big Brother wants me to explain what I was doing before the baby even existed to claim child benefits." HMRC, meet basic chronology.

• Cancelled Flight Fiasco: A London parent provided ironclad proof of a scrapped Heathrow flight and their teen's school records. HMRC's response? A second demand for three months of 2021 bank statements. "I feel like a victim of discrimination," she said, after 20 years of Scottish residency and tax-paying loyalty. Hitting a wall? Try slamming into a brick one labelled "HMRC Ineptitude."

• Holiday Horror Stories: From repatriating a late husband's body in France to a Warsaw getaway with unrecorded Edinburgh landing, families were bombarded with 73-question interrogations. One Polish-British dual national called it "a huge shock... very stressful and upsetting." Unwelcome in her own country? Thanks, HMRC – nothing says "hostile environment" like treating families as suspects.

These aren't edge cases; they're the norm in HMRC's flawed system. Hundreds in Northern Ireland alone lost payments because Dublin flights don't sync with your UK border logs. Parents treated as fraudsters? It's not hyperbole – it's policy.

If you've been stung by this HMRC child benefit crackdown, drop your story in the comments. You're part of a growing chorus demanding accountability.

HMRC's Response: Too Little, Too Late – And Still Shite

Faced with backlash from a Guardian investigation (kudos to them for exposing this), HMRC issued a mealy-mouthed "second apology in as many days." They've paused suspensions – huzzah! – and pledged an "urgent review" to cross-check with PAYE records. Affected families get a dedicated helpline, with a specialist team fast-tracking reinstatements sans the upfront inquisition.

But let's not kid ourselves: This is damage control, not reform. HMRC admits the letters went to just 0.5% of 6.9 million claimants, but that's cold comfort when your fridge is empty. Wimbledon MP Paul Kohler is rightly demanding answers from the Treasury and Northern Ireland Office – why no coordination with Irish authorities? Why no safeguards for families?

In true HMRC fashion, they're still insisting on a month's notice for eligibility checks. Paused? Sure. Fixed? About as much as your tax return app during peak season.

Why HMRC's Child Benefit Data Error is the Tip of a Toxic Iceberg

This isn't a one-off. It's symptomatic of a rotten core: AI-driven "efficiency" without human oversight, cross-agency data that's more holey than Swiss cheese, and a fraud obsession that punishes the innocent. Remember the Universal Credit wrongful deductions? The tax credit clawbacks that bankrupted families? Same playbook, different victims.

Broader implications? Eroding trust in a benefits system already creaking under cost-of-living pressures. Northern Ireland families face extra hurdles thanks to post-Brexit border quirks, while the rest of us wonder: Who's next? The disabled claimant with a forgotten doctor's note? The pensioner whose passport scan glitched?

HMRC, your child benefit crackdown pause is a band-aid on a gaping wound. Until you invest in robust data, empathetic processes, and actual accountability, you'll keep churning out these scandals. Families aren't fraudsters – but your incompetence? That's criminal.

Join the Fight Against HMRC Shite

Had enough of HMRC's endless errors? Share this post, vent in the comments, or email your MP. At HMRC is Shite, we're here to call out the crap – subscribe for more rants, tips on fighting back, and the latest on child benefit appeals.

What’s your HMRC horror story? Let’s make some noise.

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's Shocking Bias Exposed: Benefit Claimants Get 3 Minute Calls While Taxpayers Endure 18 Minute Nightmares

 

In a move that reeks of government favouritism and bureaucratic incompetence, HMRC is treating hardworking taxpayers like second-class citizens. While you're sweating over your self-assessment or scrambling to sort a PAYE glitch, benefit claimants breeze through to a human advisor in just three minutes. That's right: Universal Credit queries are answered six times faster than the soul-crushing waits faced by everyday taxpayers phoning HMRC helplines. If you're fed up with HMRC phone wait times that drag on for an eternity, you're not alone. This disparity isn't just frustrating – it's a blatant injustice that demands accountability. Let's eviscerate this farce and uncover why HMRC is failing the very people who fund the welfare state.

The Stark Reality: 3 Minutes for Benefits vs. 18 Minutes of Taxpayer Hell

Picture this: You're a small business owner, buried in paperwork, dialling HMRC for urgent advice on VAT returns. The hold music loops endlessly, and after 18 minutes on average, you finally connect – only to be shuttled to another queue. Now contrast that with a Universal Credit claimant: Their call to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) helpline is picked up in a mere three minutes between March and October last year. Over the past four years, no UC caller has waited more than five minutes.

It's not just UC getting the red-carpet treatment. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) queries sail through in 11 minutes, while overall benefit lines are handled six times faster than HMRC's taxpayer torture chamber. Customer satisfaction? DWP boasts an 85% approval rate for UC services (up from 83%), and PIP hit 83% – a six-point jump. HMRC? A pathetic 62% of callers report a positive experience. It's like comparing a luxury spa to a dystopian call centre from hell.

This isn't a one-off glitch; it's systemic rot. Back in March 2024, the gap was even wider – 15 times faster for claimants. Fast-forward to 2025, and little has changed. HMRC's helplines are a war zone of inefficiency, leaving taxpayers – the lifeblood of the economy – twisting in the wind.

Why HMRC's Chronic Understaffing is a Slap in the Face to Taxpayers

HMRC isn't broke; it's broken by choice. Between 2019-2020 and 2023-2024, they slashed frontline customer service staff by a whopping 9%, turning helplines into ghost towns. Where did the money go? A cool £100 million on senior executives' salaries, plus another £100 million for recruiting high-paid compliance bosses, as slammed by the Public Accounts Committee. While fat cats feast, the grunts handling your calls are ghosts.

And the fallout? Taxpayers foot the bill – literally. Benefits for foreign households have doubled in three years, hitting £941 million per month in Universal Credit alone as of March this year – up 30% from last year and 15.5% of total UC payouts. That's your taxes propping up a system that prioritises claimants over contributors. Foreign citizens with indefinite leave or refugee status claim on par with Brits, ballooning the welfare bill to £900 million monthly for non-UK households.

Labour's latest blunder? They scrapped plans in March to force 80,000 more claimants into job hunts, citing an uncontrollable welfare bill explosion. Instead of trimming fat, they're backpedalling on £5 billion annual savings, leaving taxpayers to subsidise the mess. HMRC, with its 40 million customers and 66,000 staff, could fix this overnight with proper funding – but where's the political will?

Taxpayer Frustration Boils Over: "The Government Supports the Paid, Not the Payers"

The outrage is palpable. Former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg didn't mince words: "Similarly, the income tax threshold is frozen while benefits go up with inflation. The Government supports those who are paid by the state rather than those who pay for it." He's spot on. While your take-home pay stagnates under frozen thresholds, benefits inflate, and HMRC treats you like an afterthought.

Online, the backlash is fierce. Reddit threads seethe with stories of lost business hours and mounting stress from HMRC wait times. LinkedIn professionals decry the hypocrisy, and X (formerly Twitter) erupts with memes of taxpayers as ATM machines for the idle. This isn't "efficiency" – it's elitism disguised as policy, where the state's dependents get VIP service on the backs of the productive.

HMRC's defence? Crickets. No apologies, no reforms – just more promises of "digital transformation" that never materialise. Meanwhile, you're left refreshing the app, praying for a callback that rarely comes.

Time to Demand Change: How to Fight Back Against HMRC's Unfair Helpline Bias

Enough is enough. This Universal Credit helpline vs HMRC scandal exposes a rotten core in Britain's public services. Taxpayers aren't serfs; we're the engine room. Here's how to push back:

• Contact Your MP: Demand HMRC funding parity with DWP. Cite the 9% staff cuts and £200 million senior splurge – make it personal.
• Join the Chorus: Share your HMRC phone wait time horror stories on social media with #TaxpayerSecondClass. Amplify voices like Rees-Mogg's.
• Opt for Alternatives (Temporarily): Use HMRC's online tools or free agents, but log complaints via their feedback portal to build pressure.
• Vote with Your Wallet: Support parties pledging welfare reforms and tax service overhauls.

HMRC's bias isn't accidental – it's a symptom of a government that worships the dependent class while scorning the strivers. Until we eviscerate this two-tier system, hardworking Brits will keep suffering. Share this if you've been burned by HMRC waits, and let's force real change. Your taxes deserve better than a three-tier queue.

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"

UK Public Sector Hit By Global Internet Outage

 

As per Guido:

Amazon Web Services is down in a major internet outage affecting its clients, which includes thousands of popular websites, apps, and games. No Snapchat for the kids…

AWS is also used extremely widely across the UK public sector. Here are some examples:

• HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC): handles customs, taxation, and border systems.​

Can't wait for digital id!

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's £500,000 Video Interview Blunder: Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Needless Tech Waste

 

In an era where every penny counts amid soaring living costs and squeezed public finances, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is once again under fire for what can only be described as a monumental squander of taxpayer money. The tax authority has unveiled plans to splash out nearly £500,000 on a fancy digital platform for pre-recorded video interviews in its recruitment drive. Yes, you read that right—half a million quid for a tool that lets job hopefuls hit "record" from their living rooms. As HMRC grapples with backlogs and public distrust, this procurement reeks of bureaucratic excess. In this deep dive, we eviscerate HMRC's latest IT folly, exposing why it's a colossal waste and how it fits into the agency's sorry history of digital disasters.

What Exactly is HMRC's Video Interview Platform Plan?

Picture this: You're applying for a desk job at HMRC, and instead of a quick Zoom chat, you're funnelled into a bespoke system where you pre-record answers to scripted questions. That's the gist of HMRC's shiny new procurement notice, published on October 7, 2025, via the UK government's Find a Tender service. The contract? A three-year deal kicking off March 1, 2026, and running until February 28, 2029, with an estimated value of £450,000 (excluding VAT)—that's £540,000 including the dreaded tax on top.

The platform promises a laundry list of features: creating and distributing pre-recorded interview questions, secure candidate recording, user-friendly interfaces for everyone from recruiters to applicants, template management, invitation tracking, progress monitoring, and slick reporting tools. It must be "resilient, scalable, and adaptable" for multiple campaigns, all while ticking boxes for security, accessibility, and data protection under UK laws. HMRC is running this through a Competitive Flexible Procedure on their SAP Ariba portal, with bids opening next month and a decision by February 2026.

On paper, it sounds innovative. In reality? It's a gold-plated gimmick when free tools like Microsoft Teams or Google Meet could handle 90% of this for peanuts. Why fork out half a million when off-the-shelf solutions exist? This isn't rocket science—it's recruitment basics dressed up as cutting-edge tech, all at the expense of the very taxpayers HMRC is meant to serve.

The Shocking Cost Breakdown: Half a Million for What?

Let's break down this eye-watering spend. Over three years, that's roughly £150,000 annually for a system that's essentially a glorified video uploader with admin bells and whistles. HMRC admits the figure is an "estimate" based on "programme delivery," but history tells us these numbers balloon. Remember, this is public money—your income tax, VAT on your groceries, National Insurance from your paycheque—diverted to a vendor who'll pocket the lot for software that's already commoditised.

Critics are piling on, calling it tone-deaf. With HMRC facing a £1.6 billion shortfall in digital modernisation funding as per the latest Spending Review, prioritising a recruitment toy over core services like timely tax refunds or fraud crackdowns is baffling. And let's not forget the opportunity cost: That £500k could fund thousands of hours of staff training or bolster understaffed helplines drowning in calls.

Why This is Peak Bureaucratic Waste: Free Alternatives Abound

Here's the evisceration: This procurement isn't just expensive—it's embarrassingly redundant. Platforms like HireVue, Spark Hire, or even free tiers of Vidyard offer pre-recorded video interviewing out of the box, often for under £10,000 a year for mid-sized orgs. HMRC could integrate these with existing tools like their SAP ecosystem without a custom build. Need templates and tracking? Excel and Google Forms handle that for zero cost.

HMRC's insistence on a "tailor-made" solution smacks of the classic public sector trap: Over-specifying requirements to justify the spend, then watching costs spiral. Security and accessibility? Vital, sure—but these are standard in modern SaaS tools, compliant with GDPR and WCAG without needing a bespoke £450k overhaul. It's as if HMRC recruiters can't be trusted with a webcam unless it's wrapped in proprietary code. This isn't innovation; it's inertia, propping up consultants and vendors while applicants fiddle with glitchy uploads on their smartphones.

In a post-pandemic world where remote interviews are the norm, HMRC's move feels like reinventing the wheel with taxpayer grease. Small businesses and startups manage this daily without breaking the bank—why can't the UK's tax giant?

HMRC's Hall of Shame: A Legacy of IT Catastrophes

This video platform isn't an isolated blunder; it's the latest chapter in HMRC's epic saga of IT failures and wasteful spending. Take Making Tax Digital (MTD), the flagship digital tax overhaul launched in 2016. Billed at £226 million, it ballooned to over £1.3 billion by 2023, plagued by delays, bugs, and "making tax difficult" for small businesses, as slammed by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee. Businesses wasted hours on faulty software, while HMRC's own systems crumbled under the load.

Flash back to 2012: HMRC's £1 billion Connect tax fraud detection project missed "virtually all delivery dates," per a National Audit Office report, wasting millions on vapourware that barely dented evasion. Fast-forward to legacy IT woes—HMRC still burns cash maintaining dinosaur systems, with COVID-era extras alone hitting £53 million in 2020. And don't get us started on the shared services fiasco, rated "red" by watchdogs for budget blowouts and unachievable goals.

These aren't one-offs. Whitehall's IT graveyard is littered with HMRC's corpses: Overspends, under-deliveries, and a culture that rewards failure with more funding. The 2025 Spending Review tossed another £1.6 billion at HMRC's digital desk, yet here we are, £500k lighter on recruitment gimmicks. It's a vicious cycle: Promise transformation, deliver trash, rinse, repeat—all on the public's dime.

The Real Victims: Hardworking Taxpayers Bearing the Brunt

Every pound HMRC wastes is a pound stolen from essential services. That £500k could hire 10 full-time advisors to clear the 8 million-case backlog, or fund anti-fraud tech that actually works. Instead, it's funnelled to a vendor for a platform few will use efficiently. Public trust in HMRC is already in the toilet—accusations of "degrading services as policy" abound, with helplines slashed and digital mandates alienating vulnerable taxpayers.

This isn't abstract; it's personal. Families struggling with energy bills see their taxes vanish into bureaucratic black holes, widening inequality while HMRC pats itself on the back for "modernisation." In an age of austerity for the masses, such profligacy demands outrage.

Time to Hold HMRC Accountable: Demand Better from Your Tax Watchdog

HMRC's £500,000 video interview splurge is the poster child for government waste: Unnecessary, overpriced, and insultingly out of touch. As bids roll in next month, it's imperative MPs, watchdogs, and taxpayers raise hell. Petition your MP, bombard the National Audit Office, and amplify this scandal—because silence equals complicity.

Enough is enough. HMRC exists to collect taxes efficiently, not squander them on shiny distractions. Until accountability reigns, every procurement notice is a potential heist. Stay vigilant, Britain—your money depends on 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"

HMRC's Shocking 7-Month A1 Certificate Backlog: Equity's Scathing Rebuke Exposes Bureaucratic Chaos

 

In a damning indictment of government inefficiency, the UK's leading performers' union, Equity, has fired off a blistering letter to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on October 10, 2025, demanding immediate action on a crippling seven-month backlog in A1 certificate processing. This administrative apocalypse is not just red tape run amok—it's a direct assault on the livelihoods of thousands of British creatives, from singers and dancers to theatre directors, forcing them into financial freefall and jeopardising the UK's £41.4 billion creative export industry. As UK workers scramble for overseas gigs in a post-Brexit world, HMRC's glacial pace is turning dreams into nightmares. How did a system meant to facilitate temporary work abroad devolve into this farce?

What Are A1 Certificates? The Essential Passport for UK Workers Abroad

For the uninitiated, A1 certificates are the golden ticket for British employees and self-employed professionals heading to the EU, EEA, or Switzerland for short stints. These vital documents confirm that social security contributions are being paid in the UK, shielding workers from double taxation and ensuring compliance with host country rules. Without an A1, you can't legally work temporarily overseas—full stop. HMRC's official targets? A breezy 15 working days for online applications and 40 for postal ones. Sounds straightforward, right? In reality, it's a bureaucratic black hole sucking in applications and spitting out despair.

The HMRC A1 Backlog Scandal: Seven Months of Inexcusable Delay

Fast-forward to October 2025, and HMRC's "check when you can expect a reply" service brazenly advertises a seven-month wait for new A1 requests. That's not a minor hiccup—it's a full-blown crisis that's been brewing for months, with reports of delays stretching back to early 2025. Equity, representing 50,000 performers and creatives, isn't mincing words: this backlog is "unacceptable," leaving members in "desperation" as they chase phantom responses through endless phone queues.

Why the paralysis? HMRC offers no coherent explanation, but patterns emerge from a trail of taxpayer tears. Musicians touring Europe face payment holds of months, retirees plotting sun-soaked escapes watch pensions evaporate in limbo, and expats renewing visas teeter on deportation's edge. This isn't isolated—it's symptomatic of HMRC's chronic understaffing and outdated systems, a post-Brexit hangover where the promise of "frictionless" trade dissolved into friction-filled fury. While the taxman rakes in billions, he's strangling the very workers who fuel the economy.

Heartbreaking Impacts: How HMRC's Neglect Is Crushing UK Creatives

The human cost of HMRC's A1 certificate delays is gut-wrenching. Equity members, often piecing together freelance gigs across borders, report overseas work evaporating overnight without this paperwork. Payments? Delayed indefinitely, plunging families into debt and despair.

Take one harrowing case spotlighted by Equity: A performer on an overseas tour had wages withheld from January to April 2025—four months of earned income vanished into the void, leaving him with zero other earnings and spiralling into "serious financial hardship." Multiply that agony by thousands: dancers sidelined from EU festivals, singers ghosted by Swiss productions, directors watching career-defining tours collapse. "International work is a vital component of many of our members’ livelihoods," blasts an Equity spokesperson, "and frictionless movement is absolutely essential... We are calling for urgent action to address the serious backlog."

Beyond performers, the ripple effects are seismic. Retirees dreaming of Continental bliss find their golden years tarnished by HMRC's "delays... sending my retirement up in flames." Expats and musicians alike are "stuck in limbo," their escapes from Britain's grey skies hijacked by paperwork purgatory. In a sector that punched £41.4 billion into UK exports in 2020 alone—14.2% of service trade—HMRC's incompetence isn't just sloppy; it's economic sabotage.

Equity's Explosive Letter: Demanding Accountability from HMRC

Equity's October 10 missive to HMRC's Jim Marks CB is a masterclass in controlled fury. Penned by General Secretary Paul W. Fleming, it lays bare the betrayal: "There is currently a significant backlog of unprocessed applications causing unacceptable delays... impacting their ability to accept and undertake the work they rely on, and causing serious financial hardship."

Fleming doesn't stop at outrage—he demands answers:

• Why the processing time is so long? (Hint: Not enough staff, antiquated tech?)
• When will additional resources be put in place? (Yesterday would be nice.)
• What will be done to prioritise urgent applications? (Because "wait it out" isn't cutting it amid phone lines that rival the M25 at rush hour.)

This isn't Equity's first rodeo; past pleas for NICs certificates fell on deaf ears. HMRC's silence? Deafening. It's time for heads to roll—or at least for the backlog to be bulldozed.

The Bigger Picture: HMRC's A1 Delays as Post-Brexit Betrayal

Zoom out, and this A1 fiasco epitomises HMRC's post-Brexit bungling. Promised as a seamless bridge to Europe, the system has instead become a moat of misery, deterring talent from borders and bloating Britain's brain drain. While ministers pat themselves on the back for "restoring control," workers flee to freer shores only to be shackled by Whitehall's whims. Creatives, who amplify Britain's soft power worldwide, deserve better than this slapdash service. Until fixed, it's a stark signal: Innovate here, emigrate elsewhere.

Time for Action: How to Fight Back Against HMRC's A1 Nightmare

Equity isn't waiting for miracles—they're mobilising. Urge your MP to hammer HMRC via Equity's campaign at equity.eaction.org.uk/write-to-MP-A1-certificate-backlog. Affected? Document your ordeal and flood HMRC's helpline (0300 200 3500) with demands for priority processing. Share your story on social media with #FixHM RCA1Backlog to amplify the chorus.

HMRC, your seven-month A1 certificate delays aren't a glitch—they're a grievous failure. Equity's call echoes what every beleaguered worker knows: Fix this now, or watch the UK's creative spark flicker out. The clock's ticking—will you finally listen?

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's VAT Catastrophe: How the UK's Tax Giant Botched £2 Billion in Receipts and Screwed the Economy

 

In the annals of bureaucratic bungles, few rival the sheer incompetence on display from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) this October 2025. The tax authority—tasked with collecting the lifeblood of UK public finances—has admitted to a glaring error in its VAT cash receipts data, forcing the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to slash public sector net borrowing estimates by a whopping £2 billion for April to August. This isn't some arcane glitch in a back-office spreadsheet; it's a fundamental failure in tracking one of the government's biggest revenue streams, leaving Chancellor Rachel Reeves with an unexpected £3 billion Budget boost while the rest of us foot the bill for HMRC's slapdash stewardship. As searches for "HMRC VAT error 2025" skyrocket, one burning question echoes: How the hell did they get this so catastrophically wrong?

Unpacking the VAT Vortex: HMRC's £2 Billion Omission That Shook the Fiscal Foundations

At its core, VAT is HMRC's crown jewel—raking in tens of billions annually from everyday transactions. Yet, in a display of jaw-dropping oversight, the agency omitted entire "payment streams" from its data processing when supplying figures to the ONS. This understatement inflated borrowing projections from £83.8 billion to a revised £81.8 billion for the fiscal year to date, with ripple effects slashing the full-year estimate by another £1 billion. The error, which HMRC itself flagged as impacting "provisional 2025 to 2026 year-to-date receipts," wasn't caught until months into the year, despite VAT being a monthly reporting staple.

How does this even happen? HMRC's data pipelines, meant to be ironclad fortresses of fiscal accuracy, apparently skipped basic reconciliation checks on payment inflows—streams that could include deferred payments, adjustments, or even routine refunds. It's as if the folks at No. 1 Horse Guards Road forgot to tally a chunk of the nation's shopping bills. The ONS, reliant on these inputs, couldn't independently verify them, exposing a toxic dependency where one agency's sloppiness poisons the entire statistical ecosystem. For investors googling "UK borrowing VAT mistake," the fallout is immediate: spooked markets, volatile gilts, and a Budget narrative flipped on its head. Reeves now has extra fiscal headroom, but at what cost to credibility?

2025: HMRC's Parade of Perils – From Phishing Fiascos to Data Thefts

This VAT debacle isn't HMRC's solo act in a year of self-inflicted wounds; it's the headliner in a circus of scandals that scream systemic rot. Since January, the tax authority has been a punchline for incompetence, with errors and breaches piling up like unfiled returns.

• Phishing Plague Hits 100,000 Accounts: In June, cybercriminals exploited weak safeguards to breach over 100,000 taxpayer accounts, siphoning £47 million in fraudulent repayments. HMRC's response? A mea culpa to MPs, but no heads rolled as scammers ran rampant.

• Insider Data Heists: By August, dozens of HMRC staff were sacked for illegally snooping on taxpayer records, turning the agency's own vaults into a sieve of privacy violations.

• R&D Fraud Fumble: Efforts to curb errors in Research & Development tax reliefs faltered, with fraud and error rates hovering at 5.9%—that's £481 million flushed down the drain in 2024-25 alone, and 2025 shows no turnaround.

Add cyber attacks that weren't "purely technical" failures but symptoms of deeper cultural lapses, and you've got an HMRC that's less guardian of the purse and more a black hole for trust. Tax cheats are "running circles" around them, per critics, with massive operational black holes unplugged despite billions in tech investments. In this context, omitting VAT payment streams isn't a "whoops"—it's par for the course in an agency that's allergic to accountability.

Zero Consequences, Endless Excuses: Why HMRC's Clowns Keep Juggling the Nation's Finances

Predictably, no one's getting the boot over this £2 billion bombshell. HMRC's chief executive faced Treasury Committee grillings in June over customer service blackouts and that phishing fiasco, yet the revolving door of reviews spins on without a single high-level scalp. The ONS praised HMRC for "timely" disclosure, but that's cold comfort when the error stemmed from their own processing pitfalls. Where's the internal audit that should've flagged this months ago? The firings for data prying? Sure, low-level staff got the chop, but the architects of these systemic fails? Untouched, sipping tea while the economy reels.

This impunity isn't just infuriating—it's a green light for more mayhem. With anticipated compliance crackdowns looming by January 2025 on digital platforms, how can anyone trust HMRC to wield new data powers without botching them too?

Beyond Useless: HMRC's Toxic Data Poisons Policy, Markets, and Your Wallet

Let's be brutally clear: HMRC's outputs aren't flawed—they're fiscal poison. This VAT error didn't just revise numbers; it misled the Bank of England on inflation pressures, jacked up borrowing costs for households, and handed tax dodgers a smokescreen amid the chaos. Worse than worthless because it actively harms: £6 billion annual black holes from fraud could be plugged with better analytics, yet HMRC lags while DWP saves millions on Universal Credit scrutiny.

For businesses hunting "HMRC data reliability 2025," the verdict is damning: distorted receipts skew VAT forecasts, hobble cash flow planning, and amplify economic whiplash. Globally, IMF projections wobble on these shaky pillars, dragging UK growth estimates into the gutter.

Overhaul or Oblivion: It's Time to Gut HMRC's Broken Machine

HMRC's 2025 implosion demands a reckoning, not more handshakes with the ONS. Pump in AI-driven fraud-spotting? Fine, but link funding to zero-tolerance accuracy KPIs. Enforce real-time audits on core streams like VAT? Mandatory. And accountability? Start with sackings at the top—because if they can't tally taxes, what can they do?

Until then, scepticism is your shield. The VAT vortex is today's outrage; tomorrow's could bankrupt us all. For unvarnished UK tax truths, ditch the official fog—because HMRC's house of horrors has no exit.

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"

Digital ID Cards in the UK: How HMRC's £600m Tax Grab Could Erode Your Privacy

 

In an era where digital convenience is king, the UK government is pushing forward with a new digital ID scheme that promises streamlined services but raises alarming red flags for privacy advocates. Announced in late September 2025, this initiative could hand HMRC an extra £600 million in tax revenue annually—framed as a win against unpaid taxes and human error. But beneath the shiny veneer of efficiency lies a potential "tax grab" that could transform everyday Brits into unwitting surveillance subjects. If you're concerned about government overreach, data breaches, or the slow creep of mandatory tracking, this is your wake-up call. In this article, we'll unpack the scheme, spotlight the risks, and explore why your digital footprint might soon be worth £600 million to the Treasury.

What Is the UK's New Digital ID Scheme?

The government's digital ID rollout, unveiled on September 26, 2025, aims to create a unified online identification system across public services. At its core, it's a digital wallet-like tool that verifies your identity using biometrics, facial recognition, or secure apps, making it easier to access everything from tax filings to welfare benefits.

HMRC is at the forefront, integrating this tech into its "Transformation Roadmap" to automate tax returns. By linking your digital ID to existing government databases, the system would auto-fill sections of your Self Assessment form with data on income, offshore assets, and more. The goal? Clamp down on errors that cost the Treasury billions and chase down £600 million in "lost" revenue from compliance gaps, like under-reported offshore earnings.

Proponents, including the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), hail it as a "smarter state" that knows when to help without you lifting a finger. A government spokesman echoed this, stating digital IDs will "support people to access the services they're entitled to and tackle illegal working." Yet, while the scheme isn't mandatory for daily carry, it becomes compulsory for anyone seeking work or certain benefits—effectively tying your livelihood to a government-issued digital leash.

The £600m Tax Grab: Efficiency or Exploitation?

Let's break down the numbers. The TBI estimates that beefed-up data sharing via digital IDs could net HMRC an additional £600 million yearly by plugging holes in tax compliance. This figure stems from better verification of identities used in dodgy right-to-work checks, where expired or fake National Insurance numbers let people dodge taxes. Broader projections from the same think tank suggest up to £2 billion in total public finance gains.

HMRC's pitch is seductive: fewer mistakes mean fairer taxes for everyone, and automated filings save you time. Jo Puddick, TBI's director of political insight, co-authored reports emphasizing how this tech targets "under-taxed offshore income" without harassing honest filers. With setup costs at £1 billion and £100 million annually to run, any windfall would supposedly fund public services.

But here's the warning bell: this isn't just about efficiency—it's a revenue raid dressed as progress. Critics argue it's a stealthy way to squeeze more from everyday taxpayers while the ultra-wealthy slip through cracks. As one GB News audience member put it during a live debate, digital IDs feel like "a prison for society." And with public support plummeting to just 14% post-announcement—from 35% in summer—it's clear many Brits smell a rat.

Privacy Nightmares: Why Digital IDs Spell Surveillance Hell

The real danger isn't the £600 million—it's what comes with it. Handing HMRC a golden key to your digital life opens the floodgates for mass surveillance. Imagine every transaction, job application, and benefit claim cross-referenced in real-time against a central database. One glitch, hack, or policy shift, and your data becomes a weapon.

• Data Breach Risks: We've seen it before—Equifax, TalkTalk. A centralised ID system is a hacker's dream, potentially exposing millions to identity theft. Over two million elderly Brits could be locked out entirely, widening the digital divide.

• Government Overreach and Mission Creep: What starts as tax checks could expand to track your carbon footprint, social media rants, or even political donations. Big Brother Watch slammed it as a "sprawling surveillance system that is frankly chilling," evoking a "social credit model that would make Orwell blush."

• Loss of Anonymity: No more filing taxes under the radar for self-employed freelancers or gig workers. Every error flagged instantly means audits on steroids, with low-income families hit hardest by automated penalties.

A petition against mandatory IDs has surged past 2.6 million signatures, fuelled by fears from opposition parties like the Conservatives and Reform UK. Even BBC reports highlight how the scheme, while not "carried day-to-day," mandates it for work—blurring lines between voluntary and enforced.

The Pros: A Quick Reality Check

To be fair, not everything's doom and gloom. Digital IDs could slash illegal working by verifying identities swiftly, and auto-filling forms might prevent honest mistakes that trigger fines. For small businesses, integrating with tax services could mean less paperwork and faster refunds. But these upsides pale against the existential threats to civil liberties—especially when safeguards feel like afterthoughts in a public consultation.

How to Protect Yourself from the Digital ID Onslaught

Don't just scroll past—act now. Here's your action plan:

1. Sign the Petition: Join the 2.6 million voices at change.org opposing mandatory IDs.

2. Opt for Paper Filings: Until forced, stick to analogue tax returns to minimise your digital trail.

3. Boost Privacy Hygiene: Use VPNs, encrypted apps, and limit data sharing with government portals.

4. Stay Informed: Follow updates from privacy groups like Big Brother Watch and engage in the upcoming consultation.

5. Vote with Your Wallet: Support MPs who prioritise data rights over revenue grabs.

Final Thoughts: Don't Let £600m Buy Your Freedom

HMRC's digital ID push might promise a frictionless future, but at what cost? This £600m tax grab isn't just about unpaid revenue—it's a Trojan horse for unprecedented control. As polling shows support cratering, it's time for Brits to demand transparency, ironclad protections, and alternatives that don't sacrifice privacy on the altar of efficiency. Share this article, spark the debate, and let's ensure our digital IDs serve us—not surveil us. What do you think—convenience or catastrophe? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.

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"