Reconciliation

The annual "year end reconciliation" process is due to begin in the second half of July at HMRC. The FT reports that approximately 1.2M people have underpaid tax in the 2010/11 tax year, the average money owed being around £500-£600.

Within the 1.2M are an estimated 160,000 who received the basic state pension for the first time in the 2010/11.

HMRC will also be issuing between 1.7m to 3.5m repayments towards the end of July of around £340 per person.

HMRC is of the view that it is in a "much better place" this year, as the new computer system is "working fast and efficiently".

In theory, once the real time PAYE system is introduced and fully operational by 2014, these reconciliations will be consigned to history. However, as I noted last week, that deadline may well be missed.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

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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"

Morale Boosters III - Thursday Funday

My thanks to a loyal reader who posted the following comment advising taxpayers with tax queries to raise their questions with large HMRC enquiry centres this Thursday.

For why?

Read on:

"A MESSAGE TO ALL PEOPLE WHO ARE UPSET OR IN DISPUTE WITH HMRC:

They are sending as many higher grade staff into larger enquiry centres on Thursday to keep them open, so if you have a gripe or just want to get to talk to a higher grade or you want to see how little they know about tax (and most of them have never advised in an enquiry centre in their lives) visit a large enquiry centre on Thursday or just go in an request a payment they will not have a clue.

I heard a rumour today that they have thrown their toys out of the pram and want a regular enquiry centre worker with them as they don't know what to do.

Go make their lives as miserable as possible."

It certainly seems as though this will be an excellent opportunity to talk to a higher grade HMRC staff member:).

Those of you who try this, please let me know how you get on.

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

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"

Morale Boosters II - Erratum

Yesterday I noted that sweets were handed out during recent site visits by HMRC directors.

It has been brought to my attention that there is an inaccuracy in what I wrote. Apparently not every site visit was accompanied by the ritual distribution of sweets.

A loyal reader commented:

"we didn't get a bloody sweet!!! all we got was two directors spending half an hour talking about there own career history then a few platitudes.."

Apologies for the error in the original article:)

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

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"

Morale Boosters

My thanks to a loyal reader who dropped me a note few days ago about an internal communications "initiative" that is apparently underway within HMRC.

It seems that HMRC leadership are having trouble understanding why the staff survey results are so bad (could it be that the upper echelons have, in the past, been fed a false picture about morale within the "glorious 103rd" by their front line management teams?).

Anyhoo, I am given to understand that groups (3 in at least one group) of directors are conducting site visits with the purpose of trying to convince staff that HMRC and the staff of HMRC are in safe hands.

During one hour of the visit 500 members of staff were taken away from their work to participate in a little quiz, and to listen to HMRC's Customer-centric (they actually used that phrase) propaganda. At the end of the meeting each staff member was given a sweet.

These visits are going to take place every 6 weeks or so.

All very nice, maybe.

However, this exercise seems to be missing the point of trying to understand why the survey results are so bad. Instead it appears to be trying to manipulate morale, in order to provide a less than dreadful result in the next survey.

Feel free to post your experiences/views of these visits, either in the comment box or directly to me.

Oh, and by the way folks, never accept sweets from strangers!

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

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"

Events Dear Boy, Events!

The BBC reports that a leaked HMRC document ("People and Offices Plan") indicates that only one (Cardiff) of eight Welsh HMRC sites is guaranteed to remain open until 2020.

PCS are to meet HMRC to query the perceived threat to the long term jobs of 1,200 staff at the other Welsh offices (eg Swansea).

HMRC said there were no new office closure announcements.

To be honest even if the document categorically stated that all jobs in Wales were guaranteed, that "guarantee" would be meaningless. Governments and organisations (no matter how honest/evil they are) can no more see into the future, and control events, than Canute could turn the tide back.

We are all at the mercy of "events", no matter how clever and farsighted we think we are.

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

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"

Universal Credits Delayed

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the government's plans for an all "singing and dancing" universal credit system, scheduled to be up and running by 2013, may in fact be a tad delayed.

The Guardian reports that the new IT systems, that will link Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HMRC, necessary for universal credits will not be ready on time.

Quel surprise!

Politicians don't do IT!

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

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"