PCS Calls HMRC's 2% Pay Rise "Derisory"

HMRC's proposals to impose annual pay rises of up to 2.08% for its lowest paid staff have been attacked by the Public and Commercial Services Union.

PCS said that HMRC was locked in an “embarrassing spectacle” of having to uprate its own lowest pay band on an annual basis to make sure it complied with the earning minimum set by government.

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The union said HMRC had told it that the rise would be paid at the end of next month, fully consolidated and backdated to 1 June.

It gave a range of 1.86% to 2.08% for the rises and said the award would be worth from £360 a year for administrative assistants based outside London to £1,410 for grade 6 staff based in the capital.

PCS said it would be convening members’ meetings on pay in September and later in the month would meet outgoing perm sec Sir Jon Thompson for a final time.

That's all very nice and dynamic. However, Thompson is leaving, what is the point of meeting him in September when he will be already mentally (albeit not physically) long gone from HMRC?


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



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AA's To Get 4%+ Pay Rise?

As per a loyal reader:

"Intranet reply from Jon Thompson in his blog :..."We are upping the AA pay by at least 4% this coming year"

Why you may ask ??

Because the pay is so low in HMRC that the department is forced to pay an in-year increase to AA grade staff just to meet the same national minimum wage it is the department’s job to enforce."

Is this for real?

I can't find an outside source?

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



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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"

HMRC Pays Better Than Treasury

Giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday, Sir Nicholas Macpherson, the most senior civil servant at the Treasury, said that better pay being offered by the Bank of England and HMRC made it hard to prevent talented junior staff in the Treasury from jumping ship.

He is quoted by the Independent:

“In the last year we’ve lost twelve people to the Bank of England.

It’s slightly frustrating that the Bank of England’s a nationalised industry... but these guys just pay a lot more than us.

It’s frustrating for us to be some sort of feeder second division Belgian football team which provides really good people for Premier League teams like Chelsea and Manchester United.” 

Moving on to HMRC he said:

“We have a lot of staff in their late twenties who will go and get a job at HMRC because they can get £10,000 more a year.” 

Only 13% of Treasury employees felt they were receiving reasonable pay compared to people doing a similar job in other organisations. The comparable figure at HMRC was 23%.

So there you go, it seems that HMRC outranks the Treasury in terms of pay.

Drinks all round!

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"

Homer Admits She Gets Paid a Lot

Around mid July Lin Homer was asked about her £20K bonus, she said that she should keep it as it reflected “a very good performance”.

Unsurprisingly, given that some HMRC staff do not receive basic pay that amounts to £20K per annum, the issue was raised at a recent HMRC Hotseat Q&A on the intranet.

My thanks to a loyal reader who passed on a transcript of the relevant part:

"Lin Homer Bonus

Can you please tell everyone how you think you can justify the £20,000 bonus that is widely reported in today's media?

This is when all my colleagues have had to put up with either a 1% or no increase on their wages in the last few years that in real money equates to a wage decrease. The bonus you are receiving is actually more than an AA or AO grades salary!

If you did receive an exceed for your PMR then you should be receiving £3607 bonus which is 1.95% of your £185000 salary.

I look forward as does everyone else to your response.
Anon

Answer

Thank you for your question. I know that pay is a really important issue for you at the moment so I’m happy to explain the position on SCS pay, which is handled differently to AA to G6 pay.

Some years ago, a pot of about 9 per cent was created by putting some of SCS base pay into a non-consolidated pot, which was then awarded only to top and achieved performers.

This Government decided to freeze all but a third of that pot and only makes awards to top performers. These awards continue to be distributed.

I should stress that pay and performance management for senior civil servants are handled centrally by the Cabinet Office. In the case of Permanent Secretaries, a remuneration committee – with an independent chair – recommends whether to pay an award and the amount, after considering a wide range of feedback and evidence.

During my time as a SCS, in line with that process, I have been awarded a bonus on a number of occasions and not on others. This is based on evidence and a comparative analysis across all Permanent Secretaries. The decision is reported our Annual Report, and it’s this that prompted the Telegraph piece.

On my visits to our offices and at events many of you tell me the public sector pay cap is making things tough for you financially. I understand why my performance award has generated some strong feelings as I do get paid a lot."

You will observe that Homer doesn't actually answer the question wrt "justifying" it, she passes the buck saying that others have approved it.

On the plus side, she does at least admit that she gets paid a lot!

All happy with that response 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"

Hard To Fill - You Get What You Pay For!

Last Monday I wrote about HMRC's attempts to recruit digital specialists, in response to the closure of its enquiry centres.

A loyal reader commented at the time:

"for the skills that they want they are offering low wages. yet again trying to get things done on the cheap, people have already applied hoping to negotiate the wage but have been told the bottom of the scale is the rate that will be paid. also they will have worse terms and conditions than fellow colleagues already working there."

This point has been reiterated by Ronnie Ludwig, partner and head of the private wealth group at Saffery Champness, who is quoted by economia:

"HMRC has come under a lot of criticism recently in a very public manner. For a long time people have felt undervalued both in terms of the job they do and also financially, in terms of pay and rations.

HMRC wouldn’t be at the top end of what they could get. 

I suspect that the morale issues and feeling of not being appreciated would be affecting the ability to recruit into that market."

In other words, you get what you pay for!

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 Little List

In line with the government's aims for "greater transparency", HMRC have published a list of their top 44 earners (in terms of base pay) in 2010.

Steve Lamey, director general of benefits and credits, is the highest earner on the list with a base pay of £205K.

The full list (on a rather awkward to read spreadsheet - you have to click on some of the cells to actually read the full name/job title) can be accessed via this link HMRC top pay.

Note, the list does not appear to take into account bonus payments, pension benefits etc. Additionally, certain job titles do not have a name by them; it is not clear as to whether this means that the post is vacant, or the person holding that post is "shy".

Tax does have to be taxing.

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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"

Money Well Spent

As the pay of civil servants is frozen (though apparently not the bonus pot) in order to help the country's battered finances, Citywire reported last week that seven directors of HMRC earned up to £1.24M in pay and benefits last year.

The best paid civil servant at HMRC was director general of benefits and credits, Steve Lamey, who was paid between £205,000 and £209,999. The chairman of HMRC, Mike Clasper, was paid between £150,000 and £154,999 for working three days a week.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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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"

I've Got A Little List

Yesterday David Cameron released a list of civil servants who are paid more than him. Here is an extract, showing those who are in HMRC:

Mike Clasper
Chair HM Revenue & Customs
Non-executive
HM Revenue & Customs
£150,000 - £154,999
3 days per week

Steve Lamey
Director General Benefits & Credits
Director General
HM Revenue & Customs
£205,000 - £209,999

Simon Bowles
Chief Finance Officer
Director General
HM Revenue & Customs
£185,000 - £189,999

Phil Pavitt
Chief Information Officer
Director General
HM Revenue & Customs
£180,000 - £184,999

Mike Falvey
Chief People Officer
Director General
HM Revenue & Customs
£175,000 - £179,999

Lesley Strathie
Chief Executive Officer
Permanent Secretary
HM Revenue & Customs
£170,000 - £174,999

Dave Hartnett
Permanent Secretary For Tax
Permanent Secretary
HM Revenue & Customs
£160,000 - £164,999

Source: BBC

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"

Pay Freeze?

Stephen Timms, the Treasury Minister, has said the government will soon make a pay decision wrt HMRC staff.

He has not ruled out a freeze on salary levels.

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"

Let Them Eat Cake!

The "Board" or, as it likes to call itself, "Excom" of HMRC holds a monthly phone in with their "loyal" staff; whereby staff are "free" to phone in and ask their lords and masters whatever they like.

It is of course a PR exercise, much like a politician kissing a baby during an election campaign, designed to convince the staff that their opinions matter and that they are being listened to.

Anyhoo, a transcript of the phone in is published on the HMRC Intranet.

I understand that during a recent phone in one brave soul had the cajones to phone up and ask what the Chairman earned a year. He then pointed out that the Chairman's 2% increase was in fact more than the annual salary of the lowest paid staff in HMRC.

Excom replied thus:

"We have to tighten our belts and batten down the hatches".

One of the many lessons that I have learned in my years spent working in organisations around the world, is that organisations where management lead by example tend to be well run.

Organisations where management opt for the "do as I say, not as I do" technique of management, fail.

It would seem that Excom need a lesson in humility.

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"

From The Coal Face

Today I would like let HMRC staff (let us not forget that they are taxpayers as well) do the talking about the reality of working for HMRC, I would especially like to give prominence to a comment made by an HMRC employee relating to my article "Morale Here is Not High".

The comment "somewhat" undercuts, and neatly shreds, the attempt by "nearly man" Hartnett to present a positive spin about life in HMRC.

I would be very pleased to receive more comments from HMRC staff.

"Morale here is not high and that's because we are in the middle of a huge change programme."

Er, no. Morale is 'not high' (or as we like to refer to it in plain English - low) because the whole merger has been quite astoundingly mishandled. Yes, it was a bad idea from the very beginning (thanks for that, Gordon), but the way that senior management have run this is staggeringly bad. If you could only see some of the details of the Departmental 'hotseat' where us plebs can put our questions to senior management. It's a fascinating exercise in bullet-dodging, fact-dodging and, indeed, answer-dodging. We've watched these two once-proud departments get pissed away all in the name of saving a few shekels. So, yes, you could say that morale is pretty bloody low.

"Our customers don't really write to us anymore or come into our offices and we are changing."

There are thousands upon thousands of unopened letters piling up in a variety of offices all over the country. Hartnett is clearly a buffoon to suggest that people don't write to us. Oh, and the reason that nobody comes into our offices is because most of them are being closed down! Try finding your local Enquiry Centre - it probably isn't there anymore. Instead, it's been centralised miles away from where you can reasonably visit it. If you do manage to make the journey there, they'll just point you in the direction of a telephone on the wall so you can speak to somebody with unsatisfactory training, an unwieldy, usually broken, computer system, and a sheet of obsolete phone numbers.

"It's a difficult world for 83,000 full-time staff to be thrilled with life."

I find that last part to be, frankly, insulting. Few people in this world are 'thrilled' to go into work, you patronising bastard. I don't expect to wake up in the morning and leap out of bed, clapping my hands in anticipation of another glorious day at HMRC. I would, however, like to wake up and not immediately be hit by the sapping realisation that when I get into the office I'm going to have to deal with piss-poor management and inept decision-making as someone in a shiny office in London, trousering a nice fat performance-bonus, tells me that I'm going to have to wait six months for my below-inflation pay rise simply because the Treasury can't get its arse in gear.

So, yes, Mr Hartnett, we're not exactly happy at the moment, and the reason for that is we've seen a succession of useless Chairmen wander through HMRC, each less capable than the last, picking up gongs and cash payouts, and not making a scrap of difference to the festering pile of shite that is HMRC."

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"

Pissing Money Up The Wall

My sympathy to the paying agent who had an encounter with HMRC recently.

He acts as a paying agent for three principals with a total of 5 staff between. The tax/NI payments are less than £1500 pm, and as such he takes advantage of the option to pay only every 3 months.

The end of period payment for Months 1,2 & 3 in 2008/09 was due on the 5th July, with a deadline for the payment to be in HMRC's bank by the 19th July.

Payment was duly made on the 9th July via the local post office (as a gesture of support to the post office).

The cheque cleared the bank account on the 11th July.

However, on 8th August the agent got a Payment Reminder from HMRC dated 29th July (snail mail is clearly the communications method of choice for HMRC!) informing him that he was late with the payment.

The agent called the number on the letter and got through to a recorded message saying:

"This number is no longer in use. Call XXXX XXXXXX"

Going well so far isn't it?

Using the new number he was finally able to talk to a human being, who was very helpful. The response was clear and informative:

"There was probably a backlog in the dept that sees that the money is in the bank.

I can see that you have paid it.

Just ignore it."

As my correspondent ruefully points out:

"What a waste of frigging time and money, both for me and HMRC. And if this is repeated on a wide scale how much of taxpayers' cash is HMRC unnecessarily pi**ing up the wall?"

Would anyone care to estimate how much of our cash is being pissed up against the wall by HMRC?

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"

The Bullys From HMRC

Yesterday one of the visitors to this site posted the following comment on two of my recent articles:

"I work for HMRC in one of their contact centres so would like to clear up a little myth surrounding overpayments relating to Tax Credits, if I may. The overpayments that are constantly mentioned are as a direct result of taxpayers not notifying HMRC of their change of circumstances, not an error by HMRC.

If a taxpayer does not inform the HMRC that they have had a pay rise or that the costs of their childcare has decreased or stopped altogether, how the hell are we meant to know?

Every single person who receives Tax Credits is sent a notice instructing them to notify HMRC if certain circumstances change.

If the claimant fails to do so, it is not HMRC's fault that they have been overpaid."

I have to say I have a degree of sympathy for the HMRC staff who have to endure the "stupidity" of the general public, many of the public don't fill in the forms on time/correctly or understand even the rudimentary basics of the tax system.

However, let us not forget that were it not for the monumental arrogance and love of complexity that Brown has for all things we would never have had this monumentally complicated and unwieldy tax credit system foisted on us in the first place.

It is this system that, aside from humiliating people by making them "beg" for state handouts, has forced a whole tranche of people into direct bureaucratic contact with HMRC who have no clue about form filling or basic bureaucratic administration.

This problem (bureaucratic, cost and dignity) could be resolved at the stroke of a pen, by simply abolishing tax credits and increasing personal allowances to a more sensible level of around £10K-£12K.

Unfortunately, as long as Brown is PM, this is not going to happen. The tax credit system is a monument to his arrogance and disdain for ordinary people.

That being said there is another problem with tax credits, namely HMRC's administration of them.

Confidential tapes and internal documents have exposed bullying and bungling in the tax credit scheme that will cost us £2.8BN.

Over 1.5M people have been told that they were overpaid tax credits and should now give back the money. HMRC have spread the lie that it was their own fault (funny how the comment I referred to above was posted twice, just at the same time that this story has come to light!) and informed some victims they had no right of appeal.

The reality you see is somewhat different, using evidence from HMRC's own case files victims of HMRC bullying have proven that HMRC errors are to blame.

It would seem that HMRC offices are in disarray, random errors are infecting claimants' computer files, and HMRC officials are lying to claimants about their right of appeal.

The cost of this shambles is £2.8BN, which HMRC will write off; why not, it's only our money?

Amongst the screw ups uncovered are the following:

• HMRC computer routinely wiped out claimants' salaries, thus triggering overpayments.



• Duplicate rogue files caused errors and sent out multiple awards.



• Victims were sent letters claiming they had "no right of appeal" when they were pursued for overpayments caused by official error.

The tax credit system, that Brown claims is meant to lift people out of poverty does nothing of the sort. It is designed to subjugate people, and make them dependent on the state.

It is an abomination!

It must be abolished now!

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"

IT Is Not Our Business - PAYE Cock Up

Oh dear, poor old HMRC they really can't seem to get the hang of this modern IT malarkey can they?

The much vaunted launch of the HMRC computer system intended to handle all Pay As You Earn, or Paye, tax claims has been suspended because of fears it will not be able to cope.

Well done lads!

Seemingly HMRC are worried that the Paye system, scheduled to go live in October of this year, is not ready to oversee the collection of taxes from about 31 million people.

The recent Poynter Review into HMRC data handling noted that duplication of information in HMRC's 650-plus systems increased the risk of data loss.

Over 650 IT systems!

Are they taking the piss?

Who the hell is in charge of IT strategy?

Bernadette Kenny, director general of personal tax at HMRC, issued a statement on the matter:

"Ensuring that our customers are properly served by our Paye services is of paramount importance to us, but we will not go ahead with implementing the new system until it is completely ready."

Errmmm...why is the DG of Personal Tax issuing a statement about IT issues?

This surely is a matter for the IT Director, to issue a statement about. The DG of Personal Tax will know fark all about IT systems!

HMRC has spent £552M on IT transformation between 2006 and March 2008.

Money down the toilet by the looks of it!

Tax does have to be taxing.

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

Draconian Penalties

Take heed fellow taxpayers, those of you who are late filing returns or paying your tax demands may well face draconian tax-geared penalties under recent proposals put forward by HMRC.

The penalties for late filing might start after six months, potentially rising to 100% of the tax bill after a year in cases where taxpayers had deliberately failed to file returns.

Needless to say, these proposal have not gone down well with those who deal with HMRC on a daily basis. John Whiting of PwC said that he objected "very strongly" to tax-based penalties for late returns.

For why?

Aha, you see dear readers there is an additional charge..taxpayers will also be charged interest based on the amount of tax due.

A double whammy!

Why so greedy HMRC?

As I have said before the government is broke, it desperately needs as much extra revenue as possible to fund its ill thought out spending programmes and pay for its out of control consultancy fees.

On top of the fines mentioned above for late returns, taxpayers also face penalties for late payment that could rise to 10-30% of the unpaid tax after a year.

Roy Maugham of UHY Hacker Young called the proposed "draconian".

Chas Roy-Chowdhury of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants also noted that HMRC is applying one rule for itself, but another for the taxpayer. He said the "huge disparity" in interest rates charged on overdue tax and paid to taxpayers owed repayments was unjustified.

"When taxpayers make a mistake they are penalised. There needs to be an understanding that when [the Revenue] makes a mistake they are equally penalised."

HMRC claim that the differential is needed to discourage taxpayers from depositing money with the Revenue, in order to obtain a higher rate of return than was available commercially. Nice idea, but the rate discrepancy doesn't have to be so much to do that.

Why not simply charge and offer the same interest rate (eg LIBOR plus 1%) for late returns and overpayments?

HMRC are trying to have their cake and eat it.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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

Consultations and The New Charter

HMRC is still formulating a "new" tax payers' charter, despite the fact that there was one in existence a few years ago but withdrew it.

The IR167 Charter for Inland Revenue Taxpayers was withdrawn on 23 June 2003, and replaced by 'Customer Service Standards' which were of little use to man or beast.

However, HMRC has stated that it has now launched a consultation on its proposals (which is giving me a feeling of a kind of deja vu, as they announced this idea back in January 2008), together with two other consultation documents on modernising tax administration.

The charter will, in theory, articulate in plain language the rights and obligations of customers when dealing with HMRC.

Responses received will help form the basis of a draft charter, which will be the subject of further consultation later this year.

The second consultation examines why taxpayers fail to file their tax returns, or pay the tax they owe, on time.

The third consultation examines harmonising and simplifying the rules on interest charged by HMRC both on tax paid late and on\interest paid by HMRC on overpayments.

The three consultation documents can be accessed on the HMRC website (click the "current consultations" option).

The deadline for submitting comments on all three consultations is 11 September 2008.

Make your opinion heard!

Tax does have to be taxing.

The New Statesman, Britain's leading political magazine is delighted to announce that HMRC Is Shite has been nominated for a New Media Award in the category of Campaign For Change. The campaign for change award will go to the individual or organisation that has most effectively influenced opinions and behaviour through the use of new media technology. The winner of this award will champion a cause and provide information and tools to instigate change.

The full press release can be downloaded here.

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"

Rewarding Failure - The Gray Scale

As is reasonably well known, the civil service has a grading structure which determines salary, pension, perks, etc etc.

However, as with all government orifices there are nuances etc that may not be so well known. Doubtless you will all recall the datagate fiasco of last year, where HMRC lost the data records of 25 million people and put their personal security at risk.

At that time Paul Gray, CEO of HMRC, was chosen to fall on his sword for this fark up and leave HMRC. Not that many tears were shed for him at the time, because he happily slipped into a new role in another part of the civil service (heaven forfend any senior member of the civil service should ever lose their job over something that they were responsible for!).

Within weeks, he had moved into the Cabinet Orifice where he led a project on 'developing civil servant skills' before his contract finally expired in December.

However, what was not revealed at the time was how much he was paid off for leaving HMRC. The payoff has now finally come to light.

How much do you think he got for leaving HMRC, after taking some of the responsibility for losing 25 million data sets?

Maestro, cue a role on the drums please!

Paul Gray received a payoff of........£400,000.

His salary when he was in HMRC was £200K per annum, so that means he got a two year pay off.

By the way, he has now also managed to negotiate a retirement package that will be officially revealed in the HMRC's annual report next month.

This particular civil service grade and pay scale shall henceforth be known as "The Gray Scale", applicable to all senior civil servants those who fail in their jobs.

HMRC: rewarding failure, punishing enterprise!

Tax does have to be taxing.

The New Statesman, Britain's leading political magazine is delighted to announce that HMRC Is Shite has been nominated for a New Media Award in the category of Campaign For Change. The campaign for change award will go to the individual or organisation that has most effectively influenced opinions and behaviour through the use of new media technology. The winner of this award will champion a cause and provide information and tools to instigate change.

The full press release can be downloaded here.

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 Nearly Man - Always The Bridesmaid

Regular readers will doubtless recall that I have on numerous occasions referred to "acting Chairman" of HMRC Dave Hartnett as being the "nearly man", always the bridesmaid but never the bride.

Indeed you will also recall that I have asked on several occasions why it is that the "acting" part of his title has not been removed, or at the very least he is replaced with a more permanent person.

Well, it seems that those "in charge" of HMRC have been reading this site and have finally taken my advice.

Ladies and Gentlemen it gives me great pleasure to inform you that Dave's "nearly man" days are at an end, up to a point; he is no longer "acting chairman" of HMRC.

HMRC have announced a new chairman, Mike Clasper who was once CEO of BAA (a "world class" company, massively in debt, providing "world class" facilities at Heathrow et al).

What, I hear you ask, is to become of Dave Hartnett?

He will become....wait for it....

Cue a roll on the drums!!



Acting Chief Executive, whilst HMRC look for someone else to fill the role on a more permanent basis.

Farking hell, is there no limit to which HMRC is prepared to humiliate this man?

Is there any limit to the amount of humiliation that Dave is prepared to endure?

Below is the full text of the announcement, and Q&A article, which appeared on the HMRC Intranet site yesterday.

I draw your attention to this particularly fine piece of prose contained within the Q&A article:

"Did Dave Hartnett apply for either job?

We don't announce applicants, only outcomes. Dave will become the acting CEO as soon as the new chair takes up appointment."

There you have it in black and white, if Dave applied for Chairman he failed and is being shunted from pillar to post; always the bridesmaid never the bride.

There are two questions that I must ask:

1 Did someone actually get paid for writing this (the announcement/Q&A article) pile of shite?

2 Did someone in "authority" within HMRC actually approve this pile of shite before it was posted on the intranet?

I assume the answer yes, applies to both questions. In which case it seems proven, beyond any doubt whatsoever, that HMRC senior management are completely clueless. My sympathies are 100% with the people who have to work there, it must be hell on earth.

Oh, how careless of me, I almost forgot to mention this.

Clasper left BAA in 2006 with a pay, pension and share package worth £10 million. Clasper can expect to be paid for his 3 days a week at HMRC in line with a permanent secretary salary scale of between £139,740 and £273,250.

**********

The Prime Minister has announced the appointment of Mike Clasper as chair of HMRC following an open recruitment process.

Mike will oversee the Department's strategic direction, play a lead role in continuing to strengthen HMRC's corporate governance and drive forward engagement with its many stakeholders.

He will take up the post on 1 August, working three days a week, and will be involved in the selection of HMRC's first chief executive - who will take charge of the Department's day-to-day business.

Dave Hartnett will become acting chief executive until the selection process has been completed.

Mike said: "HMRC plays a vital and unique role in the life of our country, its work touching every individual and business. I want to see HMRC in the vanguard of public service delivery, providing a top quality and reliable experience for all of its users.

"That is what those who work in HMRC want and I'm determined that working together we will achieve that goal."

Mike joins HMRC from Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd, where he was an operational managing director. He was formerly chief executive at BAA plc.

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: "Appointing someone of Mike's calibre and experience is particularly important at this point in HMRC's development and I am delighted he has agreed to take on the role. Mike will bring the leadership and vision needed to deliver on HMRC’s goals of providing an enhanced service to all of its customers across the UK."

Welcoming Mike to the Department, Dave Hartnett said: "It has been an honour to serve as acting chairman and I look forward to helping build on the progress we've made so far."

Q&A

**********

What is the role of the chair?
His role will be to strengthen HMRC's corporate governance and to provide oversight to the executive committee and departmental board. In addition, he will play a key role for HMRC by engaging with the Department's many stakeholders.

Key aspects of the role include:
Ensuring that HMRC has a clear strategic direction, which reflects ministers' priorities, is consistent with the resources made available by Parliament and enables the organisation to maximise the revenues properly collected and improve services to its customers.

Together with HMRC's board, to develop the strategy, holding the chief executive and senior executives to account for delivering that strategy and for the organisation's performance.

To oversee and ensure the highest standards of corporate governance, which means there are clear roles and responsibilities for all staff within HMRC and that the right cultures and behaviours exist to help deliver our objectives.

By providing leadership to the board; taking responsibility for the board's composition and development; ensuring good information and analysis for the board; and planning and conducting board meetings effectively.

Along with other members of the board, to hold the chief executive and senior executives to account for the delivery of HMRC's strategy and for the organisation's performance in meeting the targets set by ministers. To play a strong representational role, with ministers, Parliament and key stakeholders, including explaining HMRC's strategic direction to them and to its own staff; and to win their support for, and commitment to, that strategy and the resources required to carry it out.

Appear before select committees to give evidence about the strategic direction of HMRC and governance issues.

The role is part time – how part time?
The post will be 3 days a week.

What level of salary is he getting for this part time post?
His pro-rata salary for 3 days a week is commensurate with that of the most senior civil servants

Why is he only working part time - who is in charge the rest of the time?
The role of chair is to assure delivery of the departmental strategy. It is not to run the business; that is a full time job. The day-to-day running of the Department is the responsibility of the chief executive and the executive team. Chairs of huge and complex multi-nationals in the private sector with this kind of assurance role are frequently part-time.

Why is a part-time chair appropriate for an organisation dealing with "hundreds of billions" of pounds?
Because he will oversee the delivery of the departmental strategy. It is not to run the business; that is a full time job for the CEO. Chairs of huge and complex multi-nationals in the private sector with this kind of assurance role are frequently part-time.

What will he do on the other two days a week?
Mike Clasper is a non executive director of ITV plc, a position he will retain. He is also chairman of the West London Consortium, a body aimed at improving employment and skills services to residents and employers.

What is his CBE for?
Mike was awarded a CBE in 2005 for services to the environment. He led an all-industry taskforce on packaging waste, among other activities.

Will he be retaining his non executive directorship with ITV?
Yes

What about the conflict of interest?
As chair of HMRC, Mike is bound by the rules on avoiding conflicts of interest as set out in HMRC guidance. This means he has to take all possible steps to protect himself and the Department from allegations or perceptions of impropriety. He has to give priority to the role of HMRC chair over any past or present associations with any other businesses.

Will we ensure that the new chair and chief executive have never been involved in tax planning/avoidance/evasion?
The successful candidates will be of the highest integrity. There is no question anybody appointed to the posts could bring the Department or their own personal integrity into question.

Will they have to open their financial affairs to scrutiny?
They will be subject to the same checks designed to ensure financial propriety as any other member of HMRC.

Why do we need two people to run the department when we only had one before?
Only one person will be running the department; the chief executive. The chair's role will be to provide strategic leadership and oversight. This is in line with the recommendation in the HMRC Capability Review that we should consider separate roles for a chief executive and chairman.

How can a chair with no experience of HMRC run a tax collecting department?
This is not a question of running tax collection. The role is to ensure HMRC sets the right strategy in line with ministers' priorities and delivers it. Mike has been appointed on the basis of his extensive leadership skills and experience.

Will the chair be directly employed by HMRC/the Civil Service?
The chair will be a civil servant.

Will the chair or chief executive be a commissioner?
This is yet to be decided.

Why were the jobs not advertised and appointed together?
It is sensible that the chair is involved in the selection of the chief executive

When will the CEO appointment be confirmed?
The CEO competition is ongoing and an announcement will be made in due course. The current expectations are that this will be in September, giving the chair time to get to know the organisation before the final selection is made.

Did Dave Hartnett apply for either job?
We don't announce applicants, only outcomes. Dave will become the acting CEO as soon as the new chair takes up appointment.

Tax does have to be taxing.

The New Statesman, Britain's leading political magazine is delighted to announce that HMRC Is Shite has been nominated for a New Media Award in the category of Campaign For Change. The campaign for change award will go to the individual or organisation that has most effectively influenced opinions and behaviour through the use of new media technology. The winner of this award will champion a cause and provide information and tools to instigate change.

The full press release can be downloaded here.

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 New American Revolution

The American Revolution began over a dispute about taxes.

Some 232 years later, it appears that there is another dispute over taxes between the US and the UK. The dispute is over Brown's and the Treasury's plans to tax airlines for transatlantic and other long haul flights; instead of each passenger paying a fixed levy per flight, the Treasury will instead tax each plane. Airlines will then pass on the tax to passengers.

This has displeased the US. There is in fact a very real risk that the US will sue the Treasury, if Brown doesn't back down on his plans.

An official letter sent by the US Embassy to the British Government, which was leaked to The Daily Telegraph, shows that the Americans have "deep concerns with the proposal". They threaten the Treasury with legal action over the planned tax increase.

In theory the tax is meant to be for the "greener good" of the country and the world. However, the US letter totally refutes the "green" claims of Brown and his sidekick Darling.

Quote:

"The Treasury's proposal, although cast as an environmental measure, appears in reality to constitute nothing more than a device for generating additional revenue from the airline community.

There is no linkage between the funds collected from airlines and the mitigation of any environmental impact of airline emissions or any other environmental problem…Moreover, the Treasury's proposal does not demonstrate that the new duty would influence airlines to adjust their fleets or their booking practices to achieve higher load factors...Nor are any data provided to justify the levy based on an assessment of damage from aircraft emissions."

As I have said many times, the tax policy of the UK is being driven by the overriding fact that the government is broke. The taxpayers and HMRC are the ones who have to pick up the pieces, and pay the price for Brown's mismanagement.

The US has warned the Treasury that the "proposed duty raises serious legal concerns".

The new tax, it seems, breaches a number of international tax treaties; the Americans have even sent the memo to other European governments.

How did this come about?

Whilst the government may well be broke, surely someone would have warned them that this plan would unravel?

It seems that the Treasury made a major mistake, and have been making policy up as they go along.

Another badly thought through "initiative", another backtrack and reversal; yet more mess and costs for the taxpayer and HMRC to absorb and deal with!

Tax does have to be taxing.

The New Statesman, Britain's leading political magazine is delighted to announce that HMRC Is Shite has been nominated for a New Media Award in the category of Campaign For Change. The campaign for change award will go to the individual or organisation that has most effectively influenced opinions and behaviour through the use of new media technology. The winner of this award will champion a cause and provide information and tools to instigate change.

The full press release can be downloaded here.

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"