Troup Cleared - Jobs For The Boys

Sir Edward Troup, former permanent secretary at HMRC, has been cleared to start a new part-time role as an external senior tax adviser at management consulting company McKinsey, although he is not permitted to give EU tax administrations Brexit-related advice.

The advisory committee on business appointments (ACOBA) has said that there are ‘some risks under the government’s business appointment rules’ with Troup’s new role at McKinsey.

One concern was that the appointment could be seen as a reward for decisions made in office, particularly as HMRC paid McKinsey £680,000 to help design a Brexit customs arrangement.

However, although Troup had some official contact with McKinsey while at HMRC, he was not involved with McKinsey regarding any paid advice that the business provided to HMRC. He also had no influence in contract letting or contract management as this was down to CEO Jon Thompson.

Therefore, the committee concluded that Troup’s new role was not a reward for decisions made while in office.

As per Accountancy Daily, the committee has allowed Troup to start the new role as long as the following conditions are met for two years from his last day in Crown service:

• he should not draw on any privileged information available to him from his time in Crown office;
• he should not advise EU tax administrations where that advice would be directly relevant to Brexit-related issues;
• he should not work on UK tax affairs;
• service he should not work directly or indirectly on the tax affairs of McKinsey or any of its clients other than overseas tax administrations;
• he should not work on any matter which involves any dealings with any part of UK government or HMRC:
• he should not provide advice to McKinsey or its partners or clients on a bid or contract relating directly to the work of HMRC; and
• he should not become personally involved in lobbying the government on behalf of McKinsey or its clients.

Troup must also inform the committee if he plans to expand or change his role as he may have to make a new application to the committee.

Troup left HMRC on 15 January 2018.

Working for HMRC can be the springboard to a glittering career! 

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"

Troup Knighted After Supplying Confidential Tax Information

Edward Troup who signed an agreement to provide confidential tax information to the compilers of the honours list was knighted several months later after supplying that information.

How ironic!

I thought that tax information held by HMRC was meant to be confidential???



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"

Edward Troup To Retire 31 December

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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

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

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

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

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

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



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

HMRC's Croydon Hub - Troup Speaks

Edward Troup, executive chair and permanent secretary at HMRC, discussing yesterday's formal opening of HMRC's Croydon hub, told CCH Daily:

"HMRC has controlled the fit-out of the building entirely. The office is open plan and has different styles of working areas which we have been piloting in existing offices in Nottingham, Birmingham and Newcastle, which has taught us how different business areas work best."

He then went on to admit that savings will not be all that HMRC had cracked them up to be:

"We had initial projection of savings overall which have been refined over the years with the current estimate definitely being lower than what was set initially, but nevertheless there is still a financial saving."

He concluded by saying that PAC hadn't understood what HMRC was doing, and why it was doing it:

"Although it does have those savings I think where the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in a sense got the wrong end of the stick is that HMRC is doing this because as a business it cannot operate with lots of small offices. Collaboration and working as a team is absolutely essential."

A cynic might suggest that if PAC has not understood what HMRC is doing then it is because HMRC has not explained itself either clearly or honestly!

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"

Questions for Edward Troup

I understand, from a now deleted comment, that Edward Troup may be visiting an HMRC office to meet the staff in the near future?

That being the case, maybe the HMRC staff who visit this site might like to list the questions that they would like a brave colleague to ask him?

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"

Digital Delay

Last week HMRC cancelled a digital stakeholder event, schedule for the 14th of July, that many believed would have announced the release date of the project’s consultation documents.

CEO Jon Thompson and executive chair Edward Troup were expected to attend the stakeholder conference. However, due the the "turbulent political landscape", they postponed it.

As per AccountancyAge HMRC issued the following notice on 12th July:

“Following the early change of prime minister announced yesterday, HMRC’s executive leadership will need to be available to ministers at all times during the remainder of the week.

Unfortunately, this means that we will have to postpone the HMRC Stakeholder Conference on Thursday 14 July. We’re sorry for the short notice and inconvenience, and we will be in touch with a new date as soon as we can.

The political landscape has rapidly changed this week. We currently intend to publish the MTD consultation documents in the summer but understandably it won’t be this week.”

A convenient excuse for delaying publishing Making Tax Digital documents. This inevitably shortens the amount of time that people will have to scrutinise and comment on the documents.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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

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

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

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

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

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



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

The Troup and Thompson Show

It's showtime folks!

New HMRC permanent secretaries, Troup and Thompson, up before Treasury Committee this afternoon

— Judith Freedman (@JudithFreedman) June 8, 2016

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"

Treasury Select Committee Rubbishes HMRC's Digital Revolution

The Treasury select committee has criticised HMRC’s plans to digitise tax on the basis of the cost burden it will place on business.

The committee notes that the project (which needs businesses to use prescribed software to file tax information quarterly) will add to their compliance costs and makes it ‘implausible’ that they will achieve the predicted administrative savings.

This is something that loyal readers already know, and have been trying to communicate to HMRC. In fact I understand that Troup is a zealot wrt the "digital revolution" and, when engaged with on the subject by a loyal reader, was not just deaf to her points that it will be costly and burdensome but talked over her as she tried to make her case.

The question is, has HMRC done a full impact assessment on the costs/benefits (to the taxpayers) of the digital project?

No, I don't think it has. In fact Andrew Tyrie (chairman of the committee) has asked the very same of Gauke in this letter.


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"

Troup's Offshore Dalliance

As the political and media hoo-hah continues over offshoring, and the related tax implications, it appears that neither HMRC nor the Guardian have a sense of irony over the facts that HMRC's property management company is Mapeley (which has an offshore presence) and that the Guardian has itself used (maybe still uses) an offshore vehicle.

Anyhoo, that aside the media (eg the Guardian) reports today that:

"The boss of Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the government department overseeing a £10m inquiry into the Panama Papers, was a partner at a top City law firm that acted for Blairmore Holdings and other offshore companies named in the leak.

Edward Troup, executive chair of HMRC since April, is a former partner at Simmons & Simmons, whose clients have included the Panama-registered fund created by David Cameron’s father, Ian."

Whoever said that HMRC doesn't do irony?

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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

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

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

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

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

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



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

Tax is Legalised Extortion

My thanks to a loyal reader who pointed me to a Private Eye article that delved into Edward Troup's (Executive Chairman of HMRC) past, and reminded us all that he is very much anti taxation.

As per The Eye:

"Troup became a vocal and effective opponent of proposals to clamp down on tax avoidance, in keeping with his infamous view in a 1999 Financial Times comment piece that tax is “legalised extortion” and that seeking tax avoidance advice is “not immoral”."

The article also notes that he is a fan of offshoring.

Poacher turned gamekeeper, or a sign of a change in direction of government policy?

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"

No One Can Serve Two Masters

As loyal readers know, HMRC is a complex beast that has a preponderance for tying itself in knots.

As such it should come as no surprise that the appointment of Jon Thompson to replace outgoing chief executive Lin Homer in April, and Edward Troup to executive chair at HMRC is not as straightforward as it may at first seem.

The question has been asked by a number of people, who exactly is in charge of HMRC (given that there are going to be two executives)?

Good luck to the staff of HMRC who will have two masters.

Oh, and by the way, the appointment of Troup as Executive Chair is contrary to the UK Corporate Governance Code!

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"

Jon Thomspon To Be CEO of HMRC

Jon Thompson

The Prime Minister has appointed Edward Troup as Executive Chair and First Permanent Secretary at HMRC and Jon Thompson, currently Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, as HMRC’s Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary. The appointments have been made with the approval of the Cabinet Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

 

Edward, HMRC’s most senior tax expert, has been Tax Assurance Commissioner since 2012 and leads the Central Tax and Strategy Group. In his new role, which he takes up on 5 April, Edward will chair the HMRC Board, and be responsible for creating and overseeing the strategy of the department. He will be a First Permanent Secretary, will remain as a Commissioner for HM Revenue and Customs and will also attend ExCom. The arrangements for assuring large tax settlements in HMRC will be reviewed following Edward Troup’s appointment as Executive Chair.

 

Jon Thompson has been Permanent Secretary at the MOD since September 2012, after a career in finance in both the private and public sectors (see here for his biography). Jon will be a First Permanent Secretary, will chair ExCom and be responsible for the delivery of HMRC’s strategy, objectives and performance. He will also be HMRC’s Accounting Officer.

 

Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, said: “I would like to congratulate Edward and Jon on their appointments. Edward’s deep tax expertise and long experience in both HMRC and HM Treasury make him an excellent choice to lead the department through an important phase of change and amid unprecedented public interest in taxation. Jon’s experience of leading one of the biggest departments in government, coupled with his strong financial background, make him strongly placed to deliver HMRC’s ambitious transformation plans, large-scale operations and modern customer services.”

 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne MP, said: "These are exceptional appointments to HMRC. We have one of the country's pre-eminent tax experts and ‎an outstanding civil service leader with experience of transforming large organisations. Edward’s wealth of experience in tax and Jon’s operational and financial expertise, most recently as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, will prove a huge asset to HMRC as it improves its customer service and continues its vital work to clamp down on tax avoidance and evasion.”

 

Edward added: “I am delighted to be appointed as Executive Chair. It has been a privilege to be Tax Assurance Commissioner over the past three years and I look forward to leading HMRC along the path of transformation that has been established and to working with Jon Thompson as the new Chief Executive in ensuring the delivery of the ambitious plan that we agreed with ministers in our Spending Review settlement in November.

 

“By 2020-21, HMRC will be a smaller, more highly-skilled, more efficient, more modern and digital organisation, bringing together tax, data and operational expertise in large regional centres. In doing this, we need to build on our reputation for professionalism and impartiality, to maintain the public confidence that is the cornerstone of our tax system.

 

“I will work closely with Jon and our other ExCom colleagues to ensure that we continue to meet our vital purpose of collecting the funds that pay for public services, helping the honest majority to get their tax right and making it hard for the dishonest minority to cheat the system.”

 

Jon Thompson said: “I am excited to be taking up the challenge of leading the delivery of the department that raises the revenues that pay for the nation’s public services. With 50 million individual and five million business customers, HMRC operates at a scale that few organisations can match. I have long been impressed by the professionalism, expertise and commitment that HMRC’s people show in serving the public and I look forward to joining at this important time in the department’s evolution.”

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"

Odds On Lin Homer's Replacement

AccountancyAge and William Hill have produced a list of the latest odds on the potential candidates to replace Homer.

On that subject, has anyone seen the job advertised yet?

Edward Troup - 2/1

Our front-runner currently serves as HMRC's tax assurance commissioner and second permanent secretary so on paper looks like he has the credentials.
His job involves reporting directly to Lin Homer and is responsible for shaping tax policy and strategy. Before HMRC, Troup was a partner at international law firm Simmons and Simmons, so will have the legal know-how at his disposal if he's ever called into a PAC hearing if he gets the top job.

Jim Harra - 5/2

Harra has worked his way up the ranks at HMRC, beginning his career in the Inland Revenue as an inspector of taxes in 1984. In 2009, Harra was appointed director of corporation tax and VAT and has previously suggested that it's unrealistic to expect multinational firms to pay as much as other businesses, something which sparked outrage in the wake of Google's £130m "sweetheart payment" to the taxman.

He has a wide knowledge of tax issues, including tax avoidance and knows a lot about the inner workings of HMRC. Was inspector of taxes at the Inland Revenue (now known as HMRC since 2005) in 1984.

Andy Cole - 3/1

Director of specialist investigations at HMRC. He has overall responsibility for leading the response to HMRC's largest and most complex fraud and avoidance risks through civil means.

Margaret Hodge - 7/1

Former chair of the Public Accounts Committee and one of the chief critics of HMRC's failure to tackle tax avoidance.

Stephen Herring - 7/1

Head of taxation at the Institute of Directors' policy unit. Herring has specialised in taxation for over 30 years and, before joining the IoD in September 2013, was a partner in three global accounting firms (Grant Thornton, EY and BDO). He was appointed by the Exchequer secretary as one of the eight independent members of HM Treasury's Tax Professionals Forum.

Ian Powell - 12/1

Chairman and senior partner at Big Four accounting firm PwC, he is stepping down as PwC chairman later this year.

John Whiting - 12/1

Tax director of the Office of Tax simplification. Until 2013 he was the tax policy director of the CIoT; previously, he was a tax partner at PwC.

Steve Lewis - 500/1

Coffee shop owner from Crickhowell and star of The Town That Took on the Taxman, has his own campaign to become CEO of HMRC. When he spoke to Accountancy Age, he gave himself 1000/1 odds.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

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

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

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

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

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

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



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

The Joys of Low Hanging Fruit - SME's Are Not Treated Equally

As per AccountingWeb, PAC pushed HMRC this week on its treatment of SME's.

"After Hartnett, Edward Troup appeared before the committee. In his opening statement, Troup heralded the HMRC’s success in lifting the veil on Swiss banking secrecy.

“In the early 2000’s banking secrecy seemed impregnable, the idea that this secrecy could be breached was unthinkable,” said Troup. “From 2018, we will get information from Swiss banks automatically, not just on command.”

“And what are you doing now?” asked Hodge, cutting Troup short. “It’s always the future; I’m interested in the now.”

“We have quintupled the number of prosecutions for tax evasion over the last five years,” said Troup.
“How many were small businesses?” asked Hodge. “What we’re interested in is equality of treatment, SMEs aren’t treated equally.”

In reply, Troup said that he wouldn’t go into operational detail and that it was “perception” that SMEs are treated differently from large enterprises.

This drew the ire of MP Richard Bacon. “It is not merely a perception – it’s a fact that the way small enterprises are treated is different,” he said. “For you to sit here and claim that it’s perception makes you look rather out of touch.”

Troup remained defiant, saying that HMRC has to "put some effort into enforcing compliance among SMEs, they represent £15.1 bn of our tax yield"."

In a nutshell, SME's are low hanging fruit that are easy targets. Hence HMRC uses them to hide its general ineptitude elsewhere.

Whilst it is all well and good to give Troup and HMRC a public dressing down, what will be the tangible outcomes wrt HMRC's treatment of SME's.

None I fear!

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"

Edward Troup Pulled From HSBC PAC Hearing

Edward Troup, HMRC’s second permanent secretary, was to have appeared at today's PAC hearing into HSBC.

However, HMRC have pulled him at the last minute.

Anyone know why?

HMRC are denying he was due to appear.

.@JolyonMaugham That's right. Edward Troup was never due to appear. It was always to be Lin, Jim and Jennie.
— HMRC Press Office (@HMRCpressoffice) February 11, 2015

Homer also issued a denial:

.@JolyonMaugham Hi Jolyon, that is not correct. Here’s our statement: pic.twitter.com/31A6y2vv9U
— HMRC Press Office (@HMRCpressoffice) February 11, 2015

Yet he is mentioned on Parliamentary Business.

Could it be HMRC is "confused"?

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"

A Reminder To Politicians - Don't Count Your Chickens

HMRC can only collect what is legally due.

HMRC's Edward Troup was quoted by the Telegraph:

"Our job is to collect tax [and we follow] the law as it stands." 

Oh, and re the same article, in July I wrote:

"The trouble with the ongoing politicisation of tax (or rather the mechanisms involved in collecting tax) is that the politicians and media "professionals" involved in the spin are apt to "overspin" the issues and potential results etc.

Such appears to be the case with the "landmark" tax agreement between the UK and Switzerland, which Osborne heralded last year as:

"The largest tax evasion settlement in British history."

Fast forward to the present day and we see...cough... that it now looks set to raise much less revenue than expected, according to an update from the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA).
Osborne expected to raise £5BN over five years, of which £3.2BN of revenues expected this year have already been included in the government’s borrowing figures."

It seems that the reality will be around £440M this year and £782M, in total, since an agreement was signed.

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"

PAC Plays The Blame Game

The PAC invited HMRC finest to attend another committee meeting yesterday.

This time the guests were; Lin Homer, Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary, Nick Lodge, Director General, Benefits and Credits, Simon Bowles, Chief Finance Officer and Edward Troup, Tax Assurance Commissioner.

The subject of the meeting was HMRC's 2011-12 Accounts.

What was sadly apparent from yesterday's meeting was that MPs don't seem to understand Parliament's role in tax legislation, or indeed how HMRC works.

It is all very well blaming HMRC for everything that is wrong with the tax system in this country. However, whilst there are some aspects that clearly fall under HMRC's remit (eg procedures/administration), as I have noted many times before the buck stops with Parliament.

- It is Parliament that drafts the legalisation that is blamed by MPs for "allowing" tax avoidance to occur.

- It is Parliament that drafts the legislation that makes the UK tax system unfeasibly complex and nigh on impossible to understand.

- It is Parliament (dare I mention wee Gordon) that merged IR and Customs, thus bringing about this buggers' muddle that is HMRC.

- It is Parliament that decrees HMRC must cut its resources.

- It is the government that has failed to make a single minister responsible for HMRC.

Therefore, ultimately, who is to blame for the mess that PAC are complaining about?

As ever views, comments and opinions are always welcome.

You can watch the meeting via this link PAC.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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

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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"

Homer's Noble Purpose

My thanks to a loyal reader who dropped me a note about a recent hot seat question and answer session, in which Lin Homer was asked about tax avoidance.

The exchange, according to my loyal reader, went as follows:

"Q: Ian Barlow (the new lead HMRC non -executive director) has been reported in the press as saying: 

'There is no meaningful distinction to be drawn between acceptable tax planning and unacceptable tax avoidance.'

 Do you agree with this statement? 

If not can you explain why a person holding such views has been appointed to a senior position in HMRC? 

Edward Troup (the new Tax Assurance Commissioner) has written that: 

'Taxation is legalised extortion'

In the same article he said that the judgement about whether to engage in tax avoidance or not was 'not immoral'. 

Do you agree with these sentiments? 

If not would you again explain why such a person could be appointed to a senior position in HMRC? 

Lin Homer responded: The views that Ian Barlow expressed in the article were several years old, and in fact he was making the point that legally there is no distinction between acceptable tax planning and unacceptable tax avoidance. 

In that sense, he was correct in what he wrote. 

Since that time Ian has worked very closely and successfully with Dave Hartnett to bring tax as an issue to be discussed in the Boardrooms of major companies, making responsible tax policy a Board-level subject for debate and oversight. Edward Troup’s comments were also made in an old article. 

The debate about the morality of tax avoidance is a live issue today, and I would prefer to regard paying all due taxes on time in terms of a noble purpose, rather than in terms of morality. 

I think morality is an issue for theologians and politicians, rather than for civil servants. 

The reason both Ian and Edward have been appointed to their new positions is because of the vast experience they bring in both tax and business, and this will be invaluable to HMRC."

Egad!

Paying all taxes is a "noble purpose"!

I would agree with her that the issue of "morality" is not for the civil service, but is instead an issue for theologians. However, I would most certainly not agree with her that morality is an issue for politicians.

I refer Homer to my article in June, in which I said:

"A politician lecturing us on morality is as natural as a cat walking on its hind legs."

May I make a suggestion that at future hot seat Q&A sessions, if appropriate, loyal readers from HMRC start quoting from this site and/or suggesting that Excom start to read this site (just to see what the reaction is).

You never know, they may learn something!

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"

Passing The Buck - Edward Troup

Q: Who said "This is passing the buck", and to whom was he speaking?

A: Austin Mitchell speaking to Edward Troup in a PAC hearing on 2 November 2011.

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"

HMRC's New Laid Back Approach II

Some more background on the appointment of Troup and Barlow from Accountancy Age.

They even mention this site.

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"