HMRC Customer Service Hits All-Time Low

In a disheartening revelation, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has sounded the alarm bells over the dismal state of customer service at His Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The tax authority's service levels have persistently declined over the past five years, leaving taxpayers frustrated and exasperated.
 

A Five-Year Downward Spiral

The PAC's latest report, published today, paints a grim picture. Despite record-high tax revenues reaching £814.0 billion in 2022-23, HMRC's performance has fallen short. Here are the key findings:

1. Service Levels Plummet: Customer service levels at HMRC have hit an all-time low. Callers faced agonizing wait times, with 62.7% waiting more than 10 minutes to speak to an adviser in 2022-23, up from 46.3% the previous year.

2. Resource Crunch: HMRC claims it lacks the resources to meet rising demand for phone and post services. Instead, it directs callers to digital channels, insisting they are of good quality. However, taxpayers and their agents have vehemently disagreed, citing frustrating experiences.

3. Tax Complexity: With the taxpayer population growing and tax affairs becoming increasingly complex, HMRC appears to be struggling to cope. The twin challenges of managing more taxpayers and intricate tax matters have stretched the organization thin.

4. Compliance Gap: HMRC fell £2 billion short of its £36 billion target for compliance yield (additional revenue saved due to HMRC's intervention) in 2022-23. This shortfall is concerning, especially given the record tax revenues.

5. Criminal Prosecutions Decline: The number of criminal prosecutions by HMRC has significantly dropped—from 691 in 2019-20 to a mere 240 in 2022-23. While HMRC claims selectivity in using its criminal investigation powers, the PAC worries that fewer prosecutions send the wrong message.

6. IR35 Rules Under Scrutiny: The PAC also examined HMRC's approach to the IR35 rules on off-payroll working. Concerns were raised that this approach might discourage legitimate economic activity and deter companies from using contractors.

Chair's Comment

Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, expressed her disappointment: 

"Almost eight years have passed since our Committee challenged HMRC over its telephone lines' holding message being one of the most streamed pieces of music in the country. Our latest report into its performance sadly illustrates a continued tale of decline in its services."

As taxpayers continue to grapple with HMRC's service woes, urgent action is needed to restore confidence and efficiency. The PAC's recommendations aim to bridge the gap and ensure that taxpayers receive the service they deserve. 

Read the full report here .

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Market leading tax fee protection insurance for businesses, sole traders and individuals. Protect yourself from accountancy fees in the event of an HMRC enquiry.

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

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

Tax Investigation Insurance is an insurance policy that will fully reimburse your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees up to £100,000 if you are subject to enquiry by or dispute with HMRC.

A Solar Protect policy will enable your accountant (your tax return agent) to:

• Deal with any correspondence from HMRC
• Attend any meeting with HMRC
• Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal
• Having the security of knowing that fees will be met in full will enable your Accountant (your tax return agent) to defend your position robustly

Please click here for details.

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

Ministers Give Taxpayers The Finger!

 

Remember Making Tax Digital (MTD)? 

That grand plan to shove everyone online and make tax filing a breeze? 

Well, it seems the "breeze" turned into a full-blown hurricane, leaving taxpayers bewildered and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) fuming. They called the decisions "utterly extraordinary," a sentiment shared by many a frustrated citizen.

But guess what? 

Ministers, bless their bureaucratic hearts, have decided to ignore the pleas of the people and the PAC's wise words. They've rejected calls to prioritize customer needs in future digitalization efforts, effectively saying, "Sod your struggles, we're sticking to our guns!"

Now, don't get me wrong, digitalisation can be a good thing. But when it's implemented with the grace of a drunken bull in a china shop, it becomes a recipe for disaster. MTD, with its mandatory online filing and clunky interface, has left many taxpayers feeling like they're navigating a labyrinth blindfolded.

The PAC, in their infinite wisdom, suggested a more customer-centric approach. Transparency on costs and benefits? Sounds sensible, right? Nope, ministers say it's "non-negotiable." Figures on how tax revenue will be affected? Apparently, that's top secret information.

So, what does this mean for you, the average taxpayer? Well, it means brace yourself for more digital confusion, potentially higher costs, and a distinct lack of support from the powers that be.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Market leading tax fee protection insurance for businesses, sole traders and individuals. Protect yourself from accountancy fees in the event of an HMRC enquiry.

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

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

Tax Investigation Insurance is an insurance policy that will fully reimburse your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees up to £100,000 if you are subject to enquiry by or dispute with HMRC.

A Solar Protect policy will enable your accountant (your tax return agent) to:

• Deal with any correspondence from HMRC
• Attend any meeting with HMRC
• Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal
• Having the security of knowing that fees will be met in full will enable your Accountant (your tax return agent) to defend your position robustly

Please click here for details.

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

Making Tax Difficult - PAC Lambasts HMRC #MTD

 

HMRC has lost sight of needing to put customers at the heart of changes to the tax system. In a report published today, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warns that with the Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme, aiming to make it easier for people to get their tax right, HMRC is increasing the burdens imposed on some taxpayers. The report also finds that, in seeking further investment in MTD, HMRC has not been open enough about the substantial costs that will be imposed on many taxpayers.

The report finds that the design of MTD has not taken sufficient account of the realities facing business taxpayers and agents. While MTD will substantially benefit HMRC by improving its systems, taxpayers will be asked to spend more and do more to comply. Burdens will be increased with Self Assessment taxpayers asked to pay for third party software and file tax returns quarterly. Many stakeholders, including tax experts and software developers, report that up until 2023 HMRC had ignored their advice on MTD.

The report finds that HMRC excluded a total of over £2bn in upfront transitional costs for customers from its 2022 and ’23 business cases for MTD. Business taxpayers could have to pay more than £1.9bn to comply with new arrangements over the first five years, and HMRC has not said how many and which customers will face the highest transitional costs. The PAC is concerned about how much MTD could cost customers, and calls for full transparency on costs and benefits to the public purse and customers in future.

Unacceptably, with £640m of taxpayer’s money spent on MTD as a whole, many questions remain about how it will work for Self Assessment. HMRC has yet to figure out how to make MTD work for important elements such as how the system will support taxpayers with multiple agents, and how it will work for people who share ownership of property.

Widespread and repeated failures in HMRC’s planning, design and delivery of MTD have led to increased costs and several delays to the programme. HMRC expects introducing MTD for VAT and Self Assessment will now cost £1.3bn, a 400% increase in real terms compared to its original estimate of £222 million in 2016 for all three taxes in the programme. HMRC’s poor track record of repeated delays to MTD, and its lack of conviction in its latest timetable, gives the PAC little confidence that it will deliver the rest of MTD on time.

Chair's comments

Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said:

“When reporting on proposals for digitalising the tax system, our Committee should not have to be recommending that HMRC start with what taxpayers need – in an ideal world, one would hope this would simply go without saying. But seven years and £640 million into the Making Tax Digital programme, we are concerned HMRC is also succeeding in making tax difficult.

Imposing significant additional burdens on customers in the middle of a cost of living crisis could not be less welcome. HMRC must now look up from what it is doing and research what services customers would actually find most helpful. We are also concerned at the substantial costs to be imposed on many taxpayers. HMRC’s exclusion of billions of pounds of projected costs when seeking investment for the programme is utterly extraordinary, and future transparency on costs and benefits must be non-negotiable.”

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Market leading tax fee protection insurance for businesses, sole traders and individuals. Protect yourself from accountancy fees in the event of an HMRC enquiry.

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

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

Tax Investigation Insurance is an insurance policy that will fully reimburse your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees up to £100,000 if you are subject to enquiry by or dispute with HMRC.

A Solar Protect policy will enable your accountant (your tax return agent) to:

• Deal with any correspondence from HMRC
• Attend any meeting with HMRC
• Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal
• Having the security of knowing that fees will be met in full will enable your Accountant (your tax return agent) to defend your position robustly

Please click here for details.

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

HMRC Given 3 Months, Or Else..Nothing!

 

MPs have given HMRC three months to improve “unacceptable” levels of customer service in a damning report. 

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it was "unconvinced" that HMRC's plans to address its problems would work quickly enough.

It comes just days after MPs wrote to Jim Harra, head of HMRC, expressing “serious concerns” that the taxman's generous work from home policy was causing taxpayers to be left waiting on the phone in the run-up to the self-assessment deadline. Many callers were forced to wait an hour or more for HMRC to answer their queries or were cut off before receiving a response. 

The PAC said it was “surprised” to learn that in the past HMRC had sometimes closed its telephone line because it could not cope with demand. “It is not acceptable not to answer calls from people who are trying to pay the government money,” the MPs wrote.  

The report warned that HMRC’s customer service will only get worse as inflationary pressures squeeze its spending power. The MPs gave the taxman three months to write to the Committee with a plan to improve customer service "as quickly as possible".

Susan Ball, president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, whose evidence was referenced in the report, said: 

“Our members tell us every day of the delays they face getting answers and action from HMRC – and the impact this is having on businesses and individuals.

It is crazy that people trying to get help from HMRC on paying the right amount of tax find it so difficult to get through, especially when an estimated £3bn a year is lost to the Exchequer from non-deliberate taxpayer error.”

HMRC plans to address delays by investing in digitising the tax system, but the PAC said it was unconvinced this would be enough to improve customer service.

All very well giving HMRC a 3 months or else deadline, but we all know that when it misses that deadline (and it most assuredly will miss that deadline) nothing will happen to it!

Tax does have to be taxing.

Tax Investigation Insurance

Market leading tax fee protection insurance for businesses, sole traders and individuals. Protect yourself from accountancy fees in the event of an HMRC enquiry.

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

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

Tax Investigation Insurance is an insurance policy that will fully reimburse your accountant's (your tax return agent) fees up to £100,000 if you are subject to enquiry by or dispute with HMRC.

A Solar Protect policy will enable your accountant (your tax return agent) to:

• Deal with any correspondence from HMRC
• Attend any meeting with HMRC
• Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal
• Having the security of knowing that fees will be met in full will enable your Accountant (your tax return agent) to defend your position robustly

Please click here for details.

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

Jon Thompson Given Public Drubbing by PAC

Jon Thompson, chief executive of HMRC has been given a public drubbing by MPs for failing to tell 100,000 small businesses how to prepare for a 'no deal' Brexit.

Thompson was given a dressing down in a letter from parliament's Public Accounts Committee, which has been made public.

Committee chair Meg Hillier said she was "concerned and disappointed" about the lack of communication with small businesses from the department, and asked for an urgent update on how HMRC plans to make them aware of potential changes to how they trade.

She also criticised a further delay to HMRC's new customs declarations service, which is not likely to function properly until after Brexit.

The letter is quoted by City AM:

"I am both concerned and disappointed...you have made little progress.

You gave us no assurance that HMRC has a plan to ensure that businesses are aware of what they will need to do.

We are particularly concerned about the 100,000 small traders that HMRC can not engage directly with, as you do not know who they are.

I would be grateful if you could write to the Committee as soon as possible with an update on the level of business understanding and preparedness for changes to customs rules and procedures in the event of no deal."

Hillier also accused HMRC of being underprepared for changes to how businesses would pay VAT on EU imported goods after Brexit - with bills expected to be paid quicker.

Thompson told the committee his team had only just started to work with software developers to create the new system.

WHY ONLY START NOW??????

Hillier said:

"The potential move to postponed accounting is something that was foreseeable and it is reasonable to expect you to have been better prepared for it."

An HMRC spokesperson said:

“HMRC has well-developed plans to ensure that there will be a functioning customs, VAT and excise system in the unlikely event of a no deal. We have engaged with business representative bodies who will be a key partners in reaching businesses to ensure that they understand any implications for them.

We have always said the timeline for implementing the Customs Declaration Service is tight, but that we would operate the current system (CHIEF) in tandem throughout the transition. We have made good progress to ensure that the UK has a customs system capable of handling any potential volume of customs declarations after March 2019.”

BOLLOCKS!

Oh, and in other news, Thompson has deleted his Twitter account.

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 Ignores 4 Million Calls

HMRC failed to answer 4 million telephone calls last year.

The service has been branded ‘disappointing’ by Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee.

In addition to not answering 4 million calls, 14% of calls took more than 10 minutes before there was an answer.

Meg Hillier, chair of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, told the Telegraph:

‘There are a lot of people who are self-employed, who do not have a raft of tax advisers and who rely on HMRC for help."

An HMRC spokesman is quoted by Metro:

‘We have improved our customer service standards enormously over the last two years.
Our phone call handling has got better, with the average response time falling from 12 minutes in 2015-16 to below five minutes for the past two years.
Time in the automated telephony system is valuable because it ensures customers are directed to the right person to deal with their question, or get their question answered through the automated system.
The National Audit office last year recognised a large number of organisations use the same measures as HMRC."

In other words, HMRC thinks it is doing well!

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 Is "Not Credible"

The public accounts committee has concluded, as we all have, that HMRC would struggle to deal with the pressure of Brexit and its own internal changes. Additionally, PAC are "far from confident" that HMRC can deal with the tax avoidance allegations made in the wake of the Paradise Paper leaks.

HMRC believes Brexit alone could add 15% to its workload, the report said.

HMRC is undertaking 15 major transformation projects, according to the MPs' report, involving the closure of offices around the country, relocating staff to 13 regional centres and and making tax returns digital.

The public accounts committee said that was now "not deliverable" as originally envisaged because of pressure on HMRC.

PAC quoted HMRC itself saying it was "not credible" to continue with its transformation programme as it is. It said HMRC had to "be clear about what it will do differently... and what the impact will be on customer service".

Committee chairwoman Meg Hillier is scathing:

"What was already a precarious high-wire act is now being battered by the winds of Brexit, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Action arising from allegations in the so-called Paradise Papers could also significantly increase the authority's workload.

HMRC accepts something has to give and it now faces difficult decisions on how best to use its limited resources - decisions that must give full consideration to the needs of all taxpayers."

A spokesman for HMRC said they were "fully focused on making the UK's exit from the EU a success" and was on track to be able to deal with "a significant increase in customs declarations at the border" by January 2019.


No worries then!

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 Oncoming Customs Catastrophe

It seems that MPs have woken up to the oncoming post Brexit Customs catastrophe.

PAC has warned of the "catastrophic" scenario of  HMRC failing to have a back-up system in place if its Customs Declaration Service (CDS) programme is not ready in time for Brexit.

A failed customs system could lead to huge disruption for businesses, with delays potentially causing massive queues at Dover and resulting in food being left to rot in trucks at the border.

Committee chair Meg Hillier said the body does not yet have funding to increase the capacity of CDS to deal with the consequences of Brexit – nor to develop contingency options.

She is quoted by The Register:

"This is deeply worrying. HMRC requires a relatively small sum to upgrade the current CHIEF system – a move which would provide some peace of mind to traders, many of whom are still operating with limited information and in great uncertainty."

HMRC started planning to replace its customs system, known as Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight, prior to Brexit following changes to EU legislation which would have been costly and difficult to make using CHIEF's ageing technology.

The department has said using its existing CHIEF system is the main contingency option if CDS isn't ready, something it is developing as a contingency option in parallel with its implementation of CDS.

Hillier is unimpressed:

"HMRC tells us it is merely 'in conversation' over CHIEF upgrade costs when, on behalf of business and the British public, it should be banging on the doors of the Treasury.

HMRC must press the case to secure this funding now and ensure that, if other plans fail, customs will be fit for purpose."

PAC "noted" that HMRC "is currently managing an unsustainable amount of change" which could put the delivery of CDS at risk.

"HMRC told us that CDS is one of its seven most important programmes but we are concerned about the Department's ability to balance its overall risks and ensure it puts emphasis on the right areas," said the body.

This will end in tears!

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"

Brexit and The Future of Customs Inquiry - Deadline Today

Scope of the inquiry

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) was due to complete a five-year programme for a new Customs Declaration Service (CDS) by early 2017. However, delays mean that CDS will not be fully operational until January 2019.

In July the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report into CDS that found there are still significant amounts of work required to meet this new target. If there are further delays, CDS  may not be running fully by the time the UK is due to leave the European Union in March 2019.
Although HMRC due diligence has found that the CDS system will remain suitable following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, there is considerable uncertainty as to what customs environment the UK will operate in.

On 9 October the Government published a White Paper describing future customs legislation for post-Brexit. It set out potential scenarios for a new customs relationship with the EU—but it is not yet clear whether HMRC’s existing CDS programme would work for all of them without modification. It is also not clear whether the proposed finish date of January 2019 would give time to make those modifications.

The Public Accounts Committee will ask officials from HMRC about CDS’ progress to date, outstanding risks to completion, and resilience in a number of potential scenarios for leaving the European Union. 

Submitting written evidence

If you wish to submit written evidence to this inquiry, the deadline to do so is midday on Friday 20 October 2017.

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"

HMRC's Property Plans Are Shite - It's Official

The Public Accounts Committee has poured scorn on HMRC's "plans" to save more than £500m by condensing its sprawling office estate into just a handful of giant hubs.

PAC doesn't think that the 10-year scheme to reduce HMRC’s 170 offices to 13 regional bases in city centres, along with four specialist centres and a London headquarters will deliver the expected economies.

PAC also noted that closing down offices would damage local economies, with some offices being major employers in the areas.

The Telegraph quoted PAC:

"HMRC has yet to demonstrate it has a realistic and affordable plan to deliver such a radical change to its estate, and we do not believe that it needs to be based in expensive cities across the UK”.

In other words the plans, if they exist, are shite!

PAC, for good measure, also warned about the effects on staff:

“It already experiences too high a level of staff turnover with 5,000 to 6,000 staff leaving a year and it will take time to recruit and train staff in new regional centres.”

HMRC said that it will "consider" the report.

Snort!

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 Secret of HMRC's "Success" Doesn't Stack Up

Unsurprisingly HMRC have received another drubbing, this time from PAC.

In a report issued by PAC, PAC chairwoman Meg Hillier said HMRC's claims about its success "just don't stack up".

Well then, finally people other than the readers of this site are waking up to reality!

Of particular concern to PAC is HMRC's "one rule for the rich, another for the poor" approach to tax collection and enforcement.

Amusingly, HMRC claim that the rich get extra scrutiny; as some loyal readers have already pointed out, "extra scrutiny" appears to mean power lunches/dinners with HMRC top brass.

In an "ironic" twist, since HMRC set up a specialist unit dealing with so-called high net worth individuals in 2009, the amount of income tax they paid had fallen by £1bn. This is despite income tax receipts from the public as a whole rising by £23bn over the same period.

Since 2009, each of the estimated 6,500 individuals worth £20m or more has been assigned a "customer relationship manager" by HMRC to administer their tax affairs.

HMRC said this had resulted in the collection of an additional £2bn in tax. However, it was unable to explain why the income tax they paid fell by 20% - from £4.5bn in 2009-10 to £3.5bn in 2014-15 - when the overall income tax take rose by 9% £23bn.

The BBC reports that in the five years to 31 March 2016, HMRC completed just 72 fraud investigations into high net worth individuals, with all but two having been dealt with using its civil powers. Only one case resulted in a successful criminal prosecution.

Of the 850 penalties issued to the very wealthy since 2012, the average charge was £10,500, a figure the MPs said was unlikely to be a deterrent to multi-millionaires.

PAC chairwoman Meg Hillier said:

"If the public are to have faith in the tax system then it must be seen to have fairness at its heart. It also needs to work properly. In our view, HMRC is failing on both counts.

HMRC's claims about the success of its strategy to deal with the very wealthy just don't stack up."

An HMRC spokesman said:

"In fact we give them additional scrutiny, with one-to-one marking by HMRC's specialist tax collectors, to ensure that they pay everything they owe, just like the rest of us do." 

"Marking" should not mean power lunches/dinners!

As ever though, low hanging fruit is the easiest to pick. Therefore HMRC will continue to bully SME's and individuals of modest means, and increase the number/frequency of automatic fines for minor cock ups on tax returns.

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"

MTD and Concentrix - Appalling Human Consequences

Unsurprisingly the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has expressed serious concerns about HMRC's digital policy.

Digitising the Tax System (MTD)

PAC is quoted by Accountancy Age:

“HMRC is staking a great deal on the success of its plans to digitise the tax system, but once again it lacks an adequate plan if demand for its call centres does not reduce as quickly as it hopes.” 

MTD “must” meet the challenges of cutting spending, restructuring its business, dealing with Brexit, relocating staff, and replacing a major IT contract.

Also, HMRC must agree on a contingency plan with HM Treasury in case its projections are inaccurate. Meg Hillier, MP, chair of the PAC, added:

“Contingency planning should not be an optional extra.

HMRC plays a vital role, it is disconcerting that again we must raise concerns about customer service and transparency in the tax system. The lack of a convincing fall-back plan to safeguard service remains a looming threat.” 

“Complete failure” of Concentrix

The Concentrix farce also came in for a well desrved kicking.

There has been “unnecessary hardship and suffering” due to the “complete failure” of the contract of HMRC with Concentrix. The actions of Concentrix resulted in many tax claimants being wrongly accused of fraudulent claims and lost their payments.

Hillier added:

“We look forward to meaningful action to prevent a repeat of the failings embodied by its contract with Concentrix, a venture with appalling human consequences.”

Let's see what the future will bring!

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"

Hodge Doesn't Understand Tax

"It's not that we want to decide the tax, we just want to understand it" says @margarethodge at the @taxinparliament #TrustinHMRC seminar

— ACCA Taxation (@ACCATaxation) November 16, 2016

Welcome to our world Margaret!


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"

Dearnley Quit HMRC For More Money

In August I wrote about the departure of Mark Dearnley (HMRC's chief digital and information officer):

"PAC must have had an inkling that he was about to abandon ship, as they asked HMRC at the time if was going to stay. HMRC responded that they were in negotiations with him!"

It seems that the reason he left was because the £185K per annum job in HMRC was not well paid enough.

Speaking at a Commons public accounts committee hearing lest week, Jon Thompson, chief executive of the UK tax body, was asked why Dearnley quit his role. He is quoted by The Register:

"We made Mr Dearnley a very attractive offer, which would have made him one of the highest-paid director generals in the civil service and significantly more than me in my role as chief executive.

But he decided to take another role. The market had spoken."

Asked if Dearnley's departure will have a negative impact, Thompson said it would not. He said HMRC has appointed Mike Potter as acting chief digital and information officer, who worked closely with Dearnley.

We shall see!

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 Warns HMRC Not To Risk Collapse In Service

PAC has warned HMRC not to risk a “collapse in customer service” (it's not "customers" it's "taxpayers"!) by understaffing its phone lines amid expectations that a digital revamp of its services will produce cost savings.

As per the FT, PAC urged HMRC not to “underestimate the demand for telephone contact” from taxpayers as it attempts to cut the cost of its personal tax services by 34% by 2020-21 to meet spending targets.

The report said the impact of staff cuts had caused taxpayers to spend “some four million hours waiting for HMRC to answer the phone” in the 2015-16 tax year, incurring call charges to its 0300 phone numbers while they were on hold. These numbers cost up to 45p per minute to call from a mobile, and 12p per minute from a landline.

The average time taxpayers spent on hold reached almost 35 minutes in one week in October 2015 — with almost 30 per cent of all calls unanswered last year as callers simply gave up.

“Every £1 saved by HMRC on telephone services over this period [resulted] in an estimated £4 in extra costs to customers.”

In other words HMRC no longer cares about taxpayers, merely its own self interest!

Meg Hillier MP, chair of the PAC, said:

“The prospect of HMRC making further cuts to spending on customer service will chill the blood of many taxpayers.” 

HMRC thinks that PAC is talking bollocks, it said the MPs’ report was an “inaccurate, out-of-date reflection of our phone performance”.

“We acknowledge that service levels in the early part of last year were not acceptable and we apologised at the time.

But the PAC is well aware our phone lines have since fully recovered and we are now offering our best service levels in years. There’s never been a more convenient service for our customers.”

This will end in tears, not only does HMRC have to cut costs and make things digital it also has to fulfil Thompson's idiotic promise to man phone lines seven days a week 8am-8pm!

Good luck, all in all an impossible set of tasks!

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 Called To Account

The book that many of you have been talking about over the past few days, Margaret Hodge's Called To Account: How Corporate Bad Behaviour and Government Waste Combine to Cost Us Millions (an account of her years as chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) between 2010 and 2015) has been reviewed by Chris Harmer on the LSE website.

As Trollope once said:

"It was too notorious that the civil service was filled by the family fools of the aristocracy and middle classes, and that any family, who had no fool to send, sent in lieu thereof, some invalid past hope. Thus the service had become a hospital for incurables and idiots."

Nothing changes!

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 Collapse In Service To Chill The Blood

Our "respected" members of Parliament (specifically PAC) have warned that cuts to HMRC helplines have cost taxpayers £4 for every £1 saved and left taxpayers waiting for an average of 47 minutes for their calls to be answered.

No surprises there then!

The Public Accounts Committee goes on to warn that plans to cut the number of staff at HMRC by a third by 2021 could lead to another “collapse” in customer service and will “chill the blood of many taxpayers”.

Meg Hillier, the chairman of the committee, is quoted by the Telegraph:

"The prospect of HMRC making further cuts to spending on customer service will chill the blood of many taxpayers.

HMRC's recent performance in this area has been appalling for long periods and left members of the public counting the cost in time and money.

It is bad enough that people trying to pay their fair share of tax should have been kept waiting for so long.

But holding for HMRC's helpline has hit them in the pocket too - a serious concern for those on low incomes and a dismal message to send to small businesses, the self-employed and anyone else simply seeking advice.”

Mrs Hillier also said:

"HMRC has serious work to do before this committee is confident it can provide a consistent, efficient service that properly meets the needs of taxpayers and optimises tax revenue.

Efforts to meet government spending targets must not come through ill-conceived measures that effectively penalise the people departments are intended to serve."

An HMRC spokesman said:

"This is an inaccurate, out of date reflection of our phone performance. We acknowledge that service levels in the early part of last year were not acceptable and we apologised at the time.

But the PAC is well aware our phone lines have since fully recovered and we are now offering our best service levels in years. Wait times are now below five minutes and customers consistently rate the support they receive on the phones as excellent.”

Well then, nothing to worry about at all it's all lies then!

I would care to make an observation, it's all very well MPs moaning about HMRC and its service levels (or lack of service levels). However, HMRC's budget is set by the government, tax policy is set by the Chancellor and voted on by Parliament and those who run HMRC are selected/approved of by the Treasury.

Therefore MPs only have themselves to blame for HMRC being shite!

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"

You Pay Peanuts You Get Monkeys

As loyal readers know, HMRC is doing away with its Aspire contract in favour of shorter contracts with a wider range of suppliers.

In order to ensure a smooth transition from the contract, HMRC has set up a new government-owned company called Revenue and Customs Digital Technology Service (RCDTS). Its purpose is to directly employ private sector contractors who had been working for Capgemini.

However, there is a fly in the oinkment for those who switch from private to public; as there is an ongoing Treasury policy of limiting all annual payrises across the public sector to 1% until at least 2020.

This is ironic as Dearnley told PAC this week that the new company had been set up specifically to provide "a better employment offer for the staff coming in from the private sector", including better base pay and pensions than could be expected as direct employees of HMRC.

However, he is quoted by Public Technology:

"It is limited by the pay cap.

But it does have a different salary scale and remuneration structure, so in that, we've been able to put together what we believe is a much more appropriate offer for people coming in from the private sector."

Adding:

"I'm sure this will be an ongoing topic of conversation with the Treasury over the next few years."

In other words this deal hasn't been agreed/signed off by the Treasury!

Seemingly more than a quarter of the private contractors, eligible for transfer into the civil service, have chosen not to do so.

"This was them making a personal choice that they either wanted a career somewhere else or they found a different job with a current employer, or it was their moment to retire or go off to do something different. 

That level of attrition that we saw was actually lower than we expected – but in line with the industry standard."

Maybe the civil service and the government needs to rethink how it rewards and retains people?

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 Quality of Service to Personal Taxpayers Inquiry

Without any sense of irony, in light of yesterday's damning NAO report into the chaos at HMRC costing taxpayers £97M in phone calls and possibly giving rise to over 3 million incorrect tax payments, PAC will be holding an inquiry into the quality of service to personal taxpayers.

I am glad to see the word "taxpayers" not "customers" has been used!

The deadline for written submissions is 7 June.

The Public Accounts Committee holds a session on the quality of service to personal taxpayers on Monday 13 June 2016 at 4.00pm

Scope of the inquiry

HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) mission is to collect the money that pays for the UK's public services and help families and individuals with targeted financial support. It aims to administer the tax system in the most simple, customer focused and efficient way, helping the honest majority to get their tax right.

Taxpayers pay around £270 billion a year in income tax and national insurance, around half of all tax revenue. Many people who pay income tax do not need to engage with HMRC on a regular basis. Most income tax (86%) is collected from employees under Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) and administered by employers. The remaining 14% of taxpayers who are self-employed or have other income sources are required to assess their own tax liabilities.

During the last five years, the National Audit Office and the Committee of Public Accounts have reported several times on HMRC's customer service. In 2013, the Committee of Public Accounts expressed concern that the prospects of fewer staff and more calls were a real risk to HMRC achieving acceptable standards of service. The NAO report will look at what HMRC has done to improve performance since the NAO last reported in 2012, and how HMRC plans to improve customer service and seek to understand whether the quality of HMRC's customer service might affect tax revenue.

If you wish to submit evidence to this inquiry, please do so through the page linked below. The deadline for written submissions is midday on Tuesday 7 June 2016.

Send a written submission


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"