Boastful HMRC

HMRC's recent boast in an advert in the Sunday Times, in which it states that more than 90 countries and jurisdictions that are set to commence the sharing of financial information on UK taxpayers, has been called into question by tax professionals.

Doubts have been raised over whether HMRC can readily handle, and make use of, the information garnered through the arrangements.

Nigel May, a senior tax partner at MHA MacIntyre Hudson, is quoted by AccoutancyAge:

"Campaigns like this are all well and good but questions remain over the ability of HMRC to use the information they gain from this high profile action. 

We have found that similar previous advertising tended to flush out taxpayers who had in fact fully complied and were just terrified by the inherent underlying threat.
And we also know of other instances of cases where there was undeclared tax due of under £100 which would undoubtedly have cost the revenue more in administration costs than the small sum they received."

Time will tell as to whether HMRC's boasts reflect reality.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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

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

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

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Pitches For Creative Agency

HMRC will tomorrow (Friday) hold a pitch, via the Government Procurement Scheme, to find a creative agency for its annual campaigns around self-assessment and tax credits.

The winning agency will also create adverts and campaigns for other causes that arise during the term of the contract.

Campaign reports that ten agencies on HMRC's new government creative solutions roster have been approached.

HMRC recently worked with M&C Saatchi, on tax credits campaigns, and WCRS, which it hired in May 2012 to work on a range of ad hoc projects.

WCRS claims that the "inner peace" campaign that it created for HMRC led to a record 9.6 million people sending in their tax return in on time, representing 92.9% of people eligible for self-assessment.

This is an ideal opportunity for those loyal readers with a creative bent to come up with their own campaign ideas for future HMRC campaigns. Please feel free to submit your ideas (openly or privately), and I will feature the best at some stage in the future.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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

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

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

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Takes The Peace

HMRC tweeted this "idiosyncratic" tweet earlier this morning:

"Hi HMRC’s followers, just to let you know HMRC have decided to stop tweeting about tax today and instead all look for inner peace xoxo."

No, the Twitter account hadn't been hacked nor had HMRC taken some illicit substance.

It is in fact part of an advertising campaign to encourage people who have yet to file their return online to do so now, and thus find "inner peace".

Quote:

"The campaign has been developed to touch on the emotions that HMRC found people typically experience after they have filled in their tax return, often described as a real sense of relief or peace of mind – like a weight being lifted from their shoulders. The new ads feature people from different professions experiencing this feeling of post-return well-being."

Needless to say if you miss the deadline there will be no "inner peace," merely a £100 late submission fine (at the very least)!

I am curious to hear from loyal readers their feelings on this matter, when you have filed your return (be it online or on paper) what emotion do you feel?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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

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

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

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

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Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Amnesty II

Advice to HMRC: amnesties only work if you publicise them.

In the view of many tax professionals the last amnesty for offshore account holders was not advertised nearly enough.

This time round, with a new amnesty being proposed for offshore account holders, the professionals want a pro active advertising campaign rather than just a posting on the HMRC website.

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"

Amnesty

Now here is a piece of news that may be of interest to a few of you, "Stop Hitting Me Officer" especially who recently commented:

"Filing online?

I just put mine in a buff-coloured envelope earlier today and filed it at the Postal Orifice with a letter explaining "1 month + 8 emails + 12 telephone calls = quite enough effort trying to be allowed to register to file online so herewith paper..."

When the "penalty" arrives in the post I'll load the Purdey with buckshot and invite them to come and collect in person...."

Anyhoo, it transpires that more than a handful of people are a tad "miffed" that HMRC had not adequately publicised the fact that there was a 21 January deadline for registering for pin codes, in order to be able to file on line. Moira Stewart's nice little adverts reminding people about the 31 January online filing deadline failed to mention that rather important point.

Would this not be a cause for complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority?

Notwithstanding any official complaint to ASA, HMRC has been forced to issue an amnesty to those who missed the cut off because they registered for a pin after 21 January.

In true HMRC style, the tardy taxpayers will still receive the £100 penalty notice. However, HMRC will not enforce the fine if an appeal is lodged on the basis that a pin was not received in time.

This probably should help "Stop Hitting Me Officer". However, as those of you who are regulars will know (and have read his numerous comments on this site), he registered for a pin code well before 21 January and, despite repeated attempts (phone, email, letter etc), never received one.

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 Reported To ASA

Peter Clare, an ex tax inspector, has lodged an official complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about HMRC's TV advert featuring Moira Stuart and the Jan 31st Self Assessment deadline.

He is quoted:

"We are told in deadpan tone to complete our tax return AND pay our tax by this date or we will get a £100 fine. This is absolutely not true.

The £100 fine is for not sending in a tax return when requested, and even then this should be rescinded if there is no tax to pay.

It has nothing to do with the tax due, although of course, this has to be paid."

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"

Welcome Moira

HMRC having sacked Adam Hart-Davis as their front man, for his comments about the complexity of tax, have now recruited Moira Stuart as the new face of HMRC's Self Assessment TV advertising campaign.

The adverts will feature Moira "popping up in unexpected places" to remind people of the deadline dates. Moira will also be appearing on billboards and posters, and in press and online ads, encouraging people to beat the deadlines and file on time.

Excellent!

However, I understand from a comment posted on Accounting Web, that:

"There is such a backlog of returns not even logged as received with half the staff not trained to capture them, they will just add to the stock-pile on window ledges, desks and floors."

Maybe the money spent on hiring Moria would have been better spent on improving the systems in house?

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 Fairy Godmother

It's nice to see that those running HMRC believe in fairy tales.

Following on from sacking Adam Hart-Davis, as a result of his less than complimentary interview about HMRC, a new face to front HMRC has been found.

None other that "veteran" (I don't mean old) newsreader Moira Stewart.

Ms Stewart will make her TV comeback using the slogan:

"Tax needn't be taxing."

A variation on the old tag line "tax doesn't have to be taxing".

Appearing as a fairy godmother, she will tell taxpayers how to fill in tax forms.

Rather disconcertingly an HMRC spokesman said:

"We envisage her spearheading the campaign for some time.

Her relaxed manner will get people in order.

She has authority and a serious reputation."

"Get people in order!"???

I can't say that I care for the implications of that turn of phrase!

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"

Advertising Standards

My compliments to the taxpayer who recently advised of his bold attempt to raise a formal complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over the HMRC tag line:

"Tax doesn't have to be taxing."

He argued that it was misleading.

Regrettably ASA rejected his complaint.

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"

Tax Does Have To Be Taxing II

Commiserations to Adam hart-Davis, who has been booted out of any future HMRC advertising campaigns.

It seems that the recent comments by Mr Hart-Davis about wishing that the tax system was simpler, and describing VAT as "absurdly complicated", has not gone down well with HMRC.

Mr Hart-Davis, for good measure, then called for a flat rate tax and said that the merger of the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise in 2005 was a mistake. His rationale being that the two departments were too large to "slam together".

HMRC hit back and said:

"We will not be using Mr Hart-Davis in any self-assessment advertising campaigns in the future."

I guess they won't be approaching me to front their future campaigns?

Tax does have to be taxing.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com) is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"