Tax Avoidance? - Certainly Not!

There has been a large amount of chatter in various organs of the media recently about our "beloved" ex PM, religious convert and international peace maker, Tony Blair.

People are a little confused about how he makes his money, and the purpose of a number of companies that he seems to have connections with. Windrush Ventures, Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, and another called the Tony Blair Faith Foundation have all come under the spotlight.

The funny thing is that, as yet, no one has quite been able to make sense of the rationale for the structure of the 12 companies that Blair has created.

Now, were this anyone else, the obvious answer would be tax avoidance. Tax avoidance is of course perfectly legal. However, as TB is ex leader of the party that has officially come out against tax avoidance, describing it as "immoral", and as TB was once an MP (MPs' financial dealings are always above reproach, leading the moral way forward) this bizarre structure cannot possibly be for tax avoidance.

So what on earth is it for?

The Guardian, fed up with not understanding this either, has launched a wee competition asking accountants et al to study the company documents and structure and come up with an answer to this question:

"The former prime minister Tony Blair has received millions of pounds through an unusual mixture of commercial, charitable and religious income streams. Since he stepped down from office in 2007, his financial affairs have been described by observers as "Byzantine" and "opaque". The Guardian is now launching an online competition offering a prize to the person who can shine the brightest light on those financial structures.

Blair has a commercial consultancy, called Tony Blair Associates, plus jobs advising a US bank and a Swiss insurer. He has a multimillion pound book deal. He also has a charity, the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative, and another called the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. But much of the income, which includes charitable donations from other sources, has been funnelled through a structure called Windrush Ventures No 3 Limited Partnership. Our contest asks: what is Windrush?

Blair has a complex web of structures involving 12 different legal entities handling the unprecedented millions he is receiving since he stepped down from office in 2007.

So mystifying are the former prime minister's financial structures – which involve highly specialised limited partnerships and parallel companies – that the Guardian today launches an open invitation to tax specialists and accountants to attempt to explain the motivation behind such structures. We have published the Companies House documents and other legal papers regarding the structure of the partnerships at guardian.co.uk and invite expert comment via our site at guardian.co.uk/politics/series/blair-mystery."

I assume that HMRC have satisfied themselves that this does not conflict with their new found zeal to clamp down on avoidance schemes?

Any ideas anyone as to what this is for? There's an "HMRC Is Shite" T shirt in it for the winner.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

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Free Advice To MPs

Taking pity on all those MPs who find their perfectly legal tax avoidance house flipping schemes under intense public scrutiny, I have sourced an article on Citywire that shows them how to avoid stamp duty on property purchases.

Well worth our impoverished MPs taking a look at:)

The article can be viewed here Citywire

Tax does have to be taxing.

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"

Tax Avoidance - MPs Only

The message that ZaNuLabour and various senior members of HMRC have been broadcasting is that tax avoidance (whilst not being illegal) is not OK in their eyes, and that they will move heaven and earth to stamp it out.

Why then did Shaun Woodward (cabinet member) choose to avoid paying capital gains of up to £1.5M?

Is this not a tad hypocritical?

The real message is that tax avoidance is OK if you are a member of the government, but not OK for anyone else.

Here's what Shaun did:

Source The Times.

SHAUN WOODWARD, the richest member of the cabinet, avoided a capital gains tax bill of up to £1.5m on one of his London homes, which he sold to Sting, the singer.

Woodward, the Northern Ireland secretary, who has a portfolio of properties stretching from London to the Caribbean, sold the townhouse in May 2003 for £5.7m.

He told the taxman this was his main home — and thus avoided a hefty tax on the sale.Capital gains tax (CGT) is imposed on second homes.

However, in 2001 he said that his family were based in Oxfordshire, where his children were schooled. All available records of his Commons claims also indicate that he was based in Oxfordshire.

Others have “flipped” their claims from one home to another, to maximise their allowances by ensuring their second home is the one needing the most maintenance or the highest mortgage payments. Woodward, who has a grace and favour residence at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland has claimed more than £138,000 in MPs’ housing expenses since 2001. He last night issued a categorical denial that he had flipped his home or set out to avoid tax.

He also said that, far from saving himself money by avoiding capital gains tax, he lost money in the longer term when he sold off another, more valuable, property three years later.

He said he had to pay more capital gains tax when he sold off Sarsden House, a grade II-listed mansion set in 458 acres of Oxfordshire countryside. It went for approximately £25m in May 2006.

However, although questions were submitted to him by The Sunday Times last Wednesday afternoon, he failed to clarify whether he declared different “main” residences to the taxman and the Commons authorities in May 2003.

In a statement issued at 4.19pm on Saturday he strongly denied that his arrangements were an attempt to avoid capital gains tax and said there was no “inappropriate personal gain”.

He conceded in a statement that the Westminster townhouse was exempt from CGT. However, he said the sale of Sarsden was subject to CGT.

He provided a letter from the accountants Horwath Clark Whitehill which said: “Your tax liability would have been dramatically lower had you made different arrangements because the greater liability arises from the sale of Sarsden.”

However, he failed to disclose which specific property he was claiming Commons allowances on during this period, saying that he was having trouble finding the records.

Woodward, who once worked as a researcher on Esther Rantzen’s BBC television show That’s Life!, is regarded by many MPs with a mixture of suspicion and envy. He is married to the supermarket heiress Camilla Sainsbury and defected from the Tories to Labour in 1999.

Two years later, in June 2001, he was parachuted into the safe seat of St Helens South where he bought a small detached house without a mortgage for about £55,000.

After the election, he and Camilla went on a property spree in London, buying a £2.7m penthouse in a building with panoramic views of the Thames, and a one-bedroom flat in the same development.

The couple, who married in 1987 and have four children, also purchased two apartments on London’s South Bank at the end of 2001 for £2.25m. Woodward now claims expenses against one of these properties.

One of their best investments was the Westminster townhouse, reportedly bought in 1997. Lord Mandelson once stayed as a guest.

“At the time there was only one other house in 50 or 60 offices in a terraced row,” said Woodward in a 2006 interview. “They were remarkably well priced, yet it was a risk. By the time I sold it nearly half of the street had become residential. I made a lot of money from it.”

His profit on the sale was about £3.7m and a second residence would have been liable for CGT of up to 40%.

John Rosenheim, a lawyer acting for Woodward, said: “Woodward has no direct or personal dealings with the tax authorities or the fees office and always acted on professional advice.”

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Oh The Irony!

How ironic that the self same MPs, who have been bleating on and on about the "immorality" of tax avoidance, have themselves been using taxpayers' money (as a tax deductible item) to fund advice to ensure that they avoid tax themselves.

As we all know, though some of us don't like, tax avoidance is perfectly legal; no matter what Hartnett, Brown, Darling et al might try to have us believe.

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"

Above The Law

It seems that our "honourable" members are regarded by HMRC as being above the law.

That at least is according to this article in The Sunday Express.

I assume that the "special status" of MPs, and the fact that HMRC seemingly treats them with kid gloves, is due to the fact that HMRC has been politicised during Brown's tenure of the Treasury and Number 10.

How ironic that the voters (ie ordinary taxpayers) are not treated by HMRC in such a deferential manner!

"TAX inspectors who suggested investigating MPs were threatened with the sack, a whistleblower claimed last night.

Thomas Casagranda, a former tax compliance officer with HM Revenue and Customs, said MPs' tax affairs were effectively 'above the law' because senior managers refused to scrutinise them.

Mr Casagranda, who quit his post at HMRC's Reading office 18 months ago, said he had been 'shocked' by their reluctance to act.

He confirmed he suggested an investigation after receiving a tip-off that an MP was failing to declare rental income from a property.

He said: 'During a routine meeting to discuss possible projects, such as investigating taxi drivers or subcontractors in the building in??d???u???stry, I suggested running a project on MPs.

'The meeting went on as normal but afterwards I was taken aside by the head of the regional risk intelligence team and told I would be 'out on my ear' if I mentioned MPs again. I was told that if I looked at an MP's tax return or checked them out on PAYE records I would face disciplinary proceedings.

'I was boiling with anger afterwards because I was effectively being told there was one law for MPs and one for everyone else. I was being leant on very heavily to drop it and it was quite clear that the manager who was leaning on me was being lent on himself from above. It was disgraceful.'

MPs' tax returns are dealt with by a special unit which also handles celebrities.

But Mr Casagranda, who is writing a book on his experiences at HMRC, said there was no similar ban on investigating famous names.

His claims will raise fresh concerns about the apparent impunity of MPs milking the system.

Dozens are thought to have avoided paying capital gains tax on their taxpayer-funded second homes by nominating them as their main residences for tax purposes.

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears last week paid £13,332 in capital gains tax after it emerged she had avoided it on the sale of a previous home.

She insisted she had done nothing wrong. Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell has also avoided paying capital gains tax in the past but has not offered to repay any cash.

In the wake of the expenses scandal HMRC has launched an inquiry into whether MPs have been routinely avoiding capital gains tax.

Last night it denied Mr Casagranda’s claims and insisted MPs had not been above the law.

A spokesman added: 'We cannot comment on the tax affairs of clearly identifiable groups of taxpayers. One of our key roles is policing the tax rules and we do this very effectively.' "

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Snouts in The Trough - No Special Rules For MPs

From the horse's mouth (HMRC) itself:

"There are no special capital gains tax rules covering MPs' homes."

Does this mean that MP's, in the event that they have underpaid tax, may expect a tax investigation going back several years? That is what would happen to the rest of us, were we to find ourselves in this situation.

It would be a salutary lesson for the people who gave HMRC its extra powers, and who politicised it, to be on the receiving end of one of its investigations. It might even bring MPs closer to the people!

I assume that the offending MPs will be named and shamed by HMRC!

Source The Times:

"Was HM Revenue & Customs warned several years ago that MPs were playing fast and loose with the tax system as regards their homes? So claims Thomas Casagranda, an HMRC employee, who says that he highlighted for his local compliance team the use of second homes by MPs and whether this should be taxed. "My idea was instantly shot down in flames by a manager and I was told that if I looked at a local MP’s tax returns, I would face conduct and disciplinary procedures."

As Ken Frost, a long-time critic of the taxman who drew Casagranda's letter to my attention, points out, if the profits from second homes are not taxable, then repayments by Blears et al would be a tax overpayment. If they are taxable, then they owe interest and fines.

The HMRC ducks the issue. "We cannot discuss identifiable individuals' tax affairs. The capital gains tax relief for people’s homes applies to only one residence at any one time," they tell me. "More than one home can qualify for relief at the same time but it will completely depend on the facts of the case. There are no special capital gains tax rules covering MPs' homes."

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Snouts in The Trough - Suggestion Ignored

My thanks to Thomas Casagranda for giving me permission to post a letter that he sent to the Mail on Sunday, re second home profits.

I wonder how HMRC are able to reconcile their reluctance to look into this issue, with the sudden "enthusiasm" of some MPs to now pay the tax on these profits? Either these profits are taxable or they are not.

In the event that the profits are not taxable, then the payment made by Blears etc will be classified as a tax overpayment. In the event that there is a tax liability, then the underpayments of tax are surely subject to interest/fines?

"Subsequent to Ian Galagher's article dated 11/05/2009, I feel compelled to write.

In 2005/06 I highlighted, for my local compliance team, as a revenue employee, the use of second homes by MPs as a viable revenue project. My idea was instantly shot down in flames by a manager, and I was told that if I looked at a local MP's tax returns, I would face conduct and discipline procedures.

In my opinion, it is too little too late, and if HMRC targeted the MPs a few years' ago, the foul scandals besmirching the Commons and Lords would, possibly , have not occurred to the extent that they have.

Thomas Casagranda"

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Benders

"We will advise Ministers on new legislation to close down avoidance schemes and on simplifying current anti-avoidance legislation to make to easier to operate and understand while preserving its effect."

Source HMRC Delivering Our Vision Business Plan 2009-10 (page 8).

So that will include house flipping schemes used by MPs then?

How ironic that had MPs not been braying on and on about the "evils" of tax avoidance (which is perfectly legal), they might not have found themselves in the shit now.

Maybe they were of the view that "tax avoidance" is only that which is practised by "wealthy" individuals with offshore accounts?

What a foolish and ignorant notion that is.

Now they know better!

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"

Snouts in The Trough - Tax Avoidance

Isn't it ironic that Smiler Brown and his party of "fiscally prudent" lackeys have been so very very vocal over the "heinous crime" (so they would have us believe) of tax avoidance, given that they are experts at tax avoidance themselves?

Flipping one's primary and secondary homes willy nilly, so as to avoid CGT etc, is something of a right of passage for members of ZaNuLabour.

Ooh the irony that their political cudgel, HMRC, has now been forced to investigate whether MPs have deliberately evaded capital gains tax when selling their second homes.

I wonder if any Labour MPs will be "named and shamed"?



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"

Snouts in The Trough

How ironic that our MPs, some of whom are making very public noises about "cracking down" on tax avoidance (which is perfectly legal), are so assiduous at avoiding tax themselves.

The Telegraph recently noted:

"Accountants calculate that MPs avoid an average of more than £54,000 a year in tax on parliamentary expenses claims which, according to official figures, usually exceed £135,000 each.

Second home allowances and other expenses average more than double the MPs' basic salary of £63,291 and are not subject to tax. But accountants point out that constituents who were lucky enough to receive such sums from their employers would have to share 40pc with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)."

Are the best interests of the voters really being served by MPs who enjoy different tax treatment to their constituents?

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"

A Lesson In Failure

Gordon Brown's much derided Tax Credit system, mismanaged by HMRC, is still the subject of scorn and dismay.

The Public Accounts Committee has stated that overpayments (which were £7.3BN between 2003 and 2007) are still running at a staggering £1BN per annum. Needless to say the hapless recipients of the overpayments are then asked to repay them.

Edward Leigh MP, Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee told the BBC:

"It is distressing that many of the families that have to make repayments to the department, on average £770 for a single year, are highly vulnerable and struggling in the economic downturn."

Adding:

"The department has not given claimants the support they need in making claims and reporting changes in circumstances, and it has assumed too much on the part of claimants in their understanding the tax credits system."

The Committee also noted that the PAYE income tax system had a backlog of 16M cases, as at March 2008, which need manual checks to ensure they are accurate.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Wobbly Framework

It seems that there are errors within the government's "frameworks" database. This is used by departments such as the Treasury and HMRC to provide basic details about individuals eg name, address, date of birth and NI number.

Around 3.5M errors have been identified within the database, after Justine Greening MP raised concerns from one of her constituents about erroneous changes to her records on the database. HMRC incorrectly changed the constituent's registered address without her authorisation, and illegally sent out her PAYE information to a third party.

Greening states that the Treasury, when the matter was raised, was somewhat vague about the process for changing records.

The "good" news is that Labour are in love with databases and wish to set up an id card scheme, ie they wish to create ever more complex and unwieldy databases, giving them ample opportunity to multiply the number of errors.

Garbage in - garbage out.

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 Bulging Sack

Much like Santa Claus, HMRC seems to be suffering from a bulging sack.

John Battle MP (Leeds) recently claimed that a six week backlog of mail has built up at HMRC's offices in Lisbon Street. Mr Battle discovered the backlog after phoning up HMRC on behalf of a firm in his constituency.

The call took a somewhat circuitous route, first to Cardiff then to Wrexham.

Mr Battle is quoted in the Yorkshire Evening Post:

"People's papers seem to be scattered around the country with no serious tracking mechanism.

People really do want a more satisfactory service, not least because it could mean a serious risk to jobs at a time when there is a squeeze.

I am tabling questions to ask whether the Treasury can address the responsiveness of the Leeds tax office.

If they need more staff, get a few more staff to cope with the pressure and help stop businesses from going under."

HMRC have denied that there was a six week backlog in unopened post.

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"

MP Thrown Out of HMRC Office - Update

Sources close to Edward Timpson MP have advised me that the morning that HMRC announced the closure of HMRC Crewe, Mr Timpson travelled straight up to the office from London to meet his constituents and the campaign team that he had worked with over the last 6 months.

Local managers were told in advance, and Mr Timpson had met with the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (FST) twice in the preceding two days.

However, because Mr Timpson hadn't specifically requested permission from the FST and Workforce Change that morning, a regional manager in another office ordered his ejection.

Mr Timpson lodged a protest with the FST, and his staff were told that the FST would apologise in the lobby.

HMRC seemed to have forgotten to tell the press that bit.

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"

MP Thrown Out of HMRC Office

Here is rather an odd story published in the Crewe Chronicle, about Crewe & Nantwich MP Edward Timpson being forced to leave the HMRC Crewe office.

I wonder what the particular "protocol" that he didn't follow was that so annoyed HMRC?

CREWE & Nantwich MP Edward Timpson has lodged a formal protest after being forced to leave the premises at Crewe tax office.

Mr Timpson had hot-footed it by train from London following the announcement the Crewe office was to close.

But he was forced to meet with worried staff, some of them in tears, on a car park opposite the Oak Street office after being told to leave the premises.

As he left the office building, an angry Mr Timpson said: “I have been asked to leave because they (management) said the proper protocol was not followed. I was here to see the workers in that building, most of whom are my constituents, who have just found out they’ve lost their jobs and want my support.

“That’s why I’ve come all the way from London and I can’t believe I’ve been asked to leave.”

The Conservative MP said he had travelled to Crewe to lend his support to the workers at this difficult time. He has now complained to Financial Secretary Stephen Timms’ office about his treatment by HMRC managers.

Mr Timpson added: “To deny an MP access to his constituents at a time when his constituents need him most is an outrage.”

An HMRC spokesman said: “We apologise for any inconvenience to Mr Timpson but we do have protocol and strict guidelines in place for visits to any of our offices.

“Mr Timpson is aware of the protocol as he’s gone through it before on previous visits and it does appear to have been sidestepped on this occasion.”

Mr Timpson has branded the consultation process leading up to the closure of the tax office “a sham”.

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"

MPs Recommend Anti Terror Legislation

Members of the Commons Public Accounts Committee have, according to Accountancy Age, recommended that HMRC beef up its investigations into the "cash in hand" economy by using anti terror legislation.

Quote:

"The Department should consider whether to seek alternative powers to strengthen this work."

I cannot say that I agree with the committee:

1 The anti terror legislation was brought in to deal with terrorists, not moonlighting taxi drivers et al. RIPA is already massively misused by local authorities.

2 A better solution would be to simplify the tax system; cut direct taxes, introduce a single band of tax, increase personal allowances and increase VAT. That will draw in the undeclared tax from the "cash in hand" economy, and cut the cost of administering our already over complex tax system.

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"

Failing Memory?

The House of Commons Treasury Sub-committee put the boot into HMRC last week, over the £88K payoff to Stuart Cruickshank (the ex CFO of HMRC).

The sum is believed to include costs for Cruickshank's legal advice and "outplacement counselling".

Cruickshank took the role in December 2006, and left in March 2008.

At the time of the announcement about his departure HMRC were reluctant to talk about how much his severance pay would be.

Now that it is out in the open, MP's are puzzled.

George Mudie MP said:

"If we are paying somebody £88K to break their contract ... they should be paying us."

Dave Hartnett told the committee that Cruickshank had not necessarily wanted to go "at that time".

How odd that, at the time, HMRC told The Times:

"Stuart Cruickshank, the Revenue claims, was on a 'standard Civil Service fixed-term appointment contract' and was always expected to leave".

Hartnett appears to have forgotten this.

Anyhoo, he has agreed to provide further details of the payout.

But added:

"We needed a chief finance officer committed to HMRC."

Odd to imply Cruickshank wasn't committed, given the article in The Gasette Autumn 2007 that I referred to in January 2008:

"The really odd thing is that reading page 12 of The Gasette (The magazine for government finance professionals) Autumn 2007, I get the distinct impression that Cruickshank, and indeed The Gasette, thought that he would be around for longer than a year".

Tax does have to be taxing.

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Shades of Nelson

Dave "Nearly Man" Hartnett evoked memories of Nelson's "I see no ships" during a recent "guest" appearance at a discussion in the House of Commons.

Despite the fact that nearly 15,000 staff have resigned from HMRC since the merger in 2005 (3,000 ahead of HMRC's target), Hartnett (now permanent secretary for tax at HMRC) said he was not aware of any forced redundancies.

"There have been no compulsory redundancies that I'm aware of in the last few years."

There are of course many ways to make someone resign, as Hartnett knows, without having to fire them.

Ironically, despite this mass exodus, HMRC's operating costs are up by £192M.

Jim Cousins MP, like many others, is somewhat baffled by this contradiction.

Hartnett, whne questioned about it, said that there were "any number of reasons" (ie he didn't know) for the cost problems "to do with the running costs of IT systems and child benefits".

Hartnett may well have evoked memories of Nelson, but he and the other two on the "committee of three" who claim to now be in charge of HMRC are most certainly not modern day versions of Nelson.

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"

Fighting Back

HMRC from offices in the Borders (Hawick and Galashiels), due to be closed by 2011, have taken their fight to the streets.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) went to Galashiels last Friday to gather signatures of support, and were joined by Borders Lib Dem MP Michael Moore.

He is of the view, as indeed are many, that the HMRC restructuring has not been properly thought through and was quoted:

"The government have not yet shown what they are going to save by closing these offices.

For all the clever processing and online transactions that people can do, there is still a need for people to look behind the figures and to do skilled interpretative work.

That needs highly qualified individuals - we have got a whole host of them in the Borders and I want us to keep them here."

As already noted, taxpayers prefer to talk face to face with tax professionals from HMRC, rather than calling a faceless call centre. Regrettably HMRC are ignoring the wishes of the taxpayers.

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"

A Very Bad Step

Much is made by those "in charge" of HMRC, and by Brown and his henchmen, of the restructuring and rationalisation of this mighty organ of the state.

However, those that actually work for it, interact with it and various MP's are not so impressed with the handling of "Smiler" Brown's conglomeration and reorganisation of Customs and Revenue.

Grantham Quentin Davies MP has expressed his disappointment at the response that he has received from the Government to his protests against the closure of Grantham's tax office.

HMRC staff from the office in Castlegate have been told that they will be relocated to Lincoln, or offered jobs in other offices as part of a restructure of the organisation.

The move will begin in Spring next year.

Treasury minister, Jane Kennedy, confirmed to Mr Davies that the plans will go ahead and assured him that the changes would have minimal effect on taxpayers.

As I have said before, many people prefer being able to talk to a friendly helpful member of HMRC face to face; rather then entangle themselves in the morass of the pig's breakfast of the HMRC website, or hang on the phone for hours as they attempt to access an expert at the HMRC call centre.

Mr Davies agrees:

"By far the worst aspect of the plans to close the Grantham tax office would be that taxpayers, individuals and businesses would have to travel to Lincoln to consult with HMRC. 11,000 callers were received in Grantham in 2006-07 and this service must continue.

The chances of honest mistakes in accounting for tax are greatly increased if there is no opportunity for face-to-face meetings between the taxpayer and the Revenue of Customs and Excise.

This would be a very bad step in the interests of both sides."

I agree, much like the banks that have shut local branches and fired branch managers (as they don't give a stuff about their customers), this is a retrograde step that is not in the interests of the taxpayer.

Government, especially "Smiler" Brown's administration, does not give a fark about the taxpayer (aside from viewing us as a hapless cow to be milked dry for every penny we have).

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"