HMRC Wins Central Government Procurement Award

I kid you not!

Could someone though please explain what this means?

"In terms of spend analysis, HMRC has consolidated, cleansed and enriched spend data for more than 21,000 suppliers and 1.3 million invoice transactions."

Central Government Procurement Award
sponsored by DHRinterim March 2010
Awarded to the central government agency that is judged to have increased value to the taxpayer through smarter procurement practice. Entry is open to central government agencies.

Winner: HM Revenue and Customs

Spend, Sourcing & Procurement technologies
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was formed in April 2005, following the merger of Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise Departments. In 2009, HMRC collected net tax receipts in excess of £400 billion, and has more than 83,000 employees at 300 locations around the UK.

HMRC is responsible for £2.2 billion in annual spending, and purchases everything from standard office supplies and print services, to industrial truck scanners and ships, and even dogs for customs work. Plans to make HMRC more efficient and open in its sourcing practices, as well as move to a more focused procurement activity, led to the implementation of an Emptoris technology suite for sourcing, spend analysis, contract management and supplier performance management.

Spend analysis and sourcing technologies are in wide use in the private sector at leading global companies. Getting a public sector organisation like HMRC in line with these practices is a huge task.

In January 2007, HMRC initiated a pilot project using spend analysis software to collate and enrich its spend data. In February 2008, HMRC then initiated a second pilot program, using advanced sourcing software, which aimed to enable the department with more efficient, effective and open sourcing practices for the goods and services it procures.

Having clear and deep visibility into organisation-wide spend allows it to effectively target key areas for cost savings and clearly demonstrate the value delivered. The information capability of spend analysis software is also critical to helping the organisation report more effectively to government auditors. Finally, the contract management technology initiative addresses the recommendations of a government audit, and improves the efficiency of the Department’s contracting processes, as well as the terms of, and compliance to, HMRC contracts.

In terms of spend analysis, HMRC has consolidated, cleansed and enriched spend data for more than 21,000 suppliers and 1.3 million invoice transactions. In terms of the application of sourcing technology, HMRC has run more than 45 sourcing events for a total spending of £300 million. Sourcing technologies have already helped HMRC to achieve savings of as high as 30 per cent in key spend categories and e-auction events.

These technologies have allowed HMRC to streamline and take paper out of the process, which has efficiency as well as sustainability benefits. Perhaps even more importantly, it has improved visibility and control over public spending – and improved accountability and responsiveness to taxpayers and Central Government.

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"

Hanging On The Telephone - Very Very Busy

In parallel with this site highlighting people's difficulties in trying to get through to HMRC on the phone, HMRC have admitted to the Guardian that its call centres and helplines are failing to cope with demand from the public.

Callers are frequently cut off, or left hanging in lengthy queues.

Guardian Money recently published a letter from lecturer Dr Hillary Shaw, detailing his problems trying to get through to HMRC on its 0845 070 3703 number.

"After navigating several levels of automated number choices you get the message that this line is busy, please call back later. No option of hanging on, you must expensively re-navigate with no certainty of success, repeatedly."

The letter prompted an outpouring from other Guardian readers suffering similar frustrations.

An HMRC spokesman said:

"We are experiencing a higher level of demand than usual because of the well-publicised issues around PAYE notices of coding. This means customers are finding it more difficult to get through.

It is standard practise within our contact centres to play 'busy' messages when the helpline is full. This ensures customers on hold do not wait in a queue for an unreasonable length of time. As a rule, we cap queue lengths at eight minutes."

HMRC is like the M25, it has become so popular that it cannot cope with demand.

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"

Coding Problems Continue

HMRC's coding problems continue to cause problems for taxpayers.

Accountancy Age quotes Peter Mitchell, chairman of the Society of Professional Accountants, saying that "as many as one in five" tax coding notices this year may be wrong. He went on to say that some firms are only this month receiving tax coding notices, dated from February 2010.

Jonathan Russell, past president of the UK200Group and partner at ReesRussell, said:

"A significant number, if not a majority, of our clients have been affected.

We don't know how long they will take to resolve as [HMRC] are only accepting letters, having told us they cannot change anything as a result of a phone call and it must be put in writing."

How long does it take HMRC take to react to letters?

This will run and run!

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"

Krakatoa East of Gatwick

EMW Picton Howell have warned that those who have managed to return from abroad, after the recent volcanic disturbance, may face a tax bill if their repatriation costs were covered by their employer.

Picton Howell have warned that HMRC will demand tax and NI payments on any expenses claimed by employees during the last six days, including transport costs to get them back to work.

The rational being that unless the employer has expressly agreed to cover the repatriation costs, there is a tax liability.

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"

Complex

Accountants and politicians are calling on HM Revenue & Customs to publicise exemptions from inheritance tax (IHT) properly after a Telegraph reader's four-year struggle to be repaid nearly £53,000.

The tax was wrongly deducted because he was unaware of an important exemption, potentially affecting thousands of families, until he read about it in the Telegraph – but HMRC says the tax rules are clearly set out in its literature and everybody should know about them.

However, independent experts say many professional advisers to bereaved families of servicemen and women are unaware of the IHT exemption because they come across it so rarely.

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"

Power Corrupts - Fit and Proper Test

It seems that our "respected" MPs have foisted another piece of bureaucratic tax legislation upon us that will do nothing to lessen fraud, but will do everything to increase the bureaucratic burden on legitimate charities and their trustees.

Third Sector reports that a new measure introduced in the Finance Act earlier this month, designed to ensure that tax relief is not given to bogus charities, is too loosely worded and gives HMRC too much power.

The legislation gives HMRC the power to carry out a 'fit and proper persons' test, every time a charity hires a new trustee or senior manager. If a trustee fails to pass the test, the charity can be denied tax relief.

Sam Macdonald, partner at law firm Farrer & Co, is quoted:

"Charities will never really know whether they are entitled to tax relief or not.

HMRC has said 'you'll have to trust us', but that's not a reassuring basis on which to continue."

Bill Lewis, tax consultant at Bates Wells & Braithwaite, said:

"HMRC should have consulted on the legislation before introducing it.

This is more unnecessary paperwork, and penalises only the innocent. The red tape this produces will have no effect on fraudsters, but it will cause trouble for law-abiding trustees."

Simon Weil, partner at Bircham Dyson Bell, said:

"This is dangerously subjective legislation. I think the sector needs to fight for its independence."

Poorly drafted legislation giving more powers to an unelected bureaucracy is a dangerous combination.

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"