HMRC Is Shite

Tuesday, 5 February 2013

HMRC Ranking In Civil Service People Survey

As I noted in December 2012, HMRC's engagement index derived from its 2012 People Survey was not exactly stellar; 41% to be precise (in 2011 it was 40%).

How then did HMRC compare with other civil service departments?

Well finally I am able to tell you, as the results were released last Friday (why such a long delay?)

HMRC came third to last, only two other departments scored worse:

- the Rural Payments Agency at 38%, and
- the Border Force at 36%

See the rankings here.

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

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"

Has HMRC Run Out of Cash?

Now here's an amusing article from the Scotsman that focuses on the marked decline in winding-up orders filed in Scotland during 2012. In the first half of 2012 HMRC filed 515 winding-up petitions in Scotland, yet in the second half HMRC filed 107.

Does this mean that the Scottish economy improved during that period?

Probably not, according to the restructuring practitioners that the Scotsman has spoken to HMRC has run out of cash to fund the petitions, and will resume filing them once the new financial year starts again in April. In other words this decline is but a temporary respite.

One practitioner is quoted:

"HMRC is under huge pressure to collect the taxes owed to the government, which is why we are hearing about companies finding it increasingly difficult to negotiate a grace period through the ‘Time to Pay’ scheme,” said one of the practitioners.

I would expect they will start petitioning again in April, when it’s a new financial year with a new budget. That’s unless their whole policy has changed, but I can’t imagine that is the case.”

A spokeswoman for HMRC has dismissed as “nonsense” the idea that it has run out of money to wind up companies.

April will doubtless be a busy month in Scotland, but what of England?

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

Monday, 4 February 2013

HMRC Appeals Rangers Tax Ruling

As per the BBC HMRC has filed an appeal against a tax tribunal ruling in favour of Rangers' use of Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs).

HMRC had claimed the scheme, which was used from 2001 to 2010 to make £47.65M in payments to players and staff in the form of tax-free loans, was illegal.

Rangers disputed this and a First Tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) ruled the scheme did not breach tax law.
The case will now be heard at a Second Tier Tax Tribunal (STT).

If the dispute is not settled at the STT, it is possible that it may go all the way to the Supreme Court - a process that could take years.

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

International Tax Avoidance

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Finance Bill Sub-Committee will be hearing from Judith Knott, HMRC Director, Corporation Tax International Anti-Avoidance (CTIAA); and Mike Williams, HMT Director, Business International Tax (BIT) this afternoon.

They will be discussing the politicians' topic of the moment, international tax avoidance.

The meeting starts at 14:35.

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

Friday, 1 February 2013

730,000 Miss Tax Filing Deadline

On the assumption that HMRC's statistics are correct, approximately 730,000 have missed yesterday's filing deadline for tax returns for 2012:

"A record 9.61 million people found “inner peace” and sent their tax return on time this year, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed today.

With 10.34 million people in Self Assessment in 2011-12, this means that around 93 out of every 100 taxpayers (92.9 per cent) met the return deadlines – 31 October for paper and 31 January for online.

Of the 9.61 million on-time tax returns, 7.93 million (82.5 per cent) were sent online – a record number. The remaining 1.68 million (17.5 per cent) were sent on paper.

Anyone who hasn’t yet sent their 2011-12 tax return to HMRC will have already incurred a £100 late-filing penalty. To avoid any further penalties, they should send their return as soon as possible, as well as pay any outstanding tax due for the 2011-12 tax year.

The busiest day for online returns was 31 January, when HMRC received 578,000. The busiest hour occurred between 4pm and 5pm on 31 January, when 46,000 returns – more than 12 per second – were received by HMRC.

In the run up to the 31 January deadline, even the Christmas holidays didn’t stop the flow of online returns to HMRC, with 1,548 people putting the festivities on hold and sending their tax return online on Christmas Day, and another 4,685 on Boxing Day. New Year’s Eve saw 27,161 people celebrate by sending their tax return over the internet, while another 12,077 were suitably recovered on New Year’s Day to do the same.

Help and advice is available from the HMRC website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa or from the Self Assessment helpline on 0845 9000 444.

Notes for editors
1. From an original Self Assessment population of around 10.6 million for the 2011-12 tax year, more than 300,000 people contacted HMRC under a new initiative to say they didn’t need to be in Self Assessment and had their returns cancelled.

2. Images of HMRC’s new “inner peace” Self Assessment ads are available from HMRC’s Flickr channel at www.flickr.com/hmrcgovuk

3. The penalties for late Self Assessment returns are:

- an initial £100 fixed penalty, which applies even if there is no tax to pay, or if the tax due is paid on time;

- after three months, additional daily penalties of £10 per day, up to a maximum of £900;

- after six months, a further penalty of five per cent of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater; and

- after 12 months, another five per cent or £300 charge, whichever is greater.

There are also additional penalties for paying late of five per cent of the tax unpaid at: 30 days; six months; and 12 months."

Here come the fines!

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

Santander Payment Problems Resolved

HMRC has issued the following statement:

“During the morning on 31 January the Bank of Santander had problems with their Bill Pay service that customers use to pay their tax by credit card or debit card. These problems are now resolved and if you had problems paying earlier you should now try again or use one of the other ways you can pay us.”

Please let me know if there are any unresolved issues.

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