RTI - The Oncoming Surge

As the month end approaches so does the real crunch/test for RTI, as the majority of employers attempt to use RTI for the first time.

My thanks to a loyal reader for pointing me to two articles in AccountingWEB about RTI.

Regarding the oncoming surge, AccountingWEB quote Credec director Alexander Meynell:

“HMRC reported that it had handled 70,000 submissions in week one of the new tax year: that’s 3.5% of the total. The end of the month is the real acid test.”

In the meantime, AccountingWEB also reports that HMRC has temporarily stopped employers and their payroll agents from switching their pay cycles to lessen the administrative burden of RTI.

In new guidance published HMRC state:

“There has been a recent increase in the number of employers and agents requesting the registration of PAYE schemes as annual.

Please note that, at the moment, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are unable process requests from employers to:

• move to paying annually and register as an annual scheme
• change their payment frequency.

HMRC are working to rectify this position and will publish a further 'What's New' message to announce when this is ready.”

What does this mean?

Rebecca Benneyworth (Deputy Chair of the ICAEW tax Faculty) is of the view that HMRC may be having IT problems, exacerbated by a surge in requests from single director companies to switch to the annual scheme option.

As per one payroll software developer:

"We’ve heard that HMRC can’t cope with the volume of requests and has closed the helpline number down while they decide what to do."

So then how are people getting along with RTI, both within and without of 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



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"

RTI Problem

As per Cheap Accounting on Facebook:

Important RTI News – HMRC software problem Pls RT and share #bizitalk

We understand that there is an issue with HMRC’s software for some RTI filers. They hope to have an update by the end of the week.

We have just had a RTI rejection, though the P35 filed no problem. The reason is that HMRC have not “mandated” the record for RTI. Reason “unknown”.

We’ve called HMRC and they can mandate the record for RTI but obviously this means a call to the help desk – deep joy!

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"

Ker Farking Ching!

Sky News reports that between 650,000-850,000 taxpayers are set to be hit with daily fines by HMRC, after failing to file their tax returns for 2011/12.

HMRC sent out automatic £100 penalties to around 850,000 people by February 20, the defaulting taxpayers were then given three months to file their accounts.

However, it is believed that hundreds of thousands have still to complete their forms.

As I recently noted, as from May 1 a new daily fine of £10 will be levied on those who have not filed their 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



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 Credit

Universal Credit trials begin today.

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"

PAC Talks Bollocks Again

I see that PAC has distinguished itself again by lashing out at the accounting profession, in petulant frustration at the fact that people and companies seek to arrange their financial affairs in such a manner so as to minimise their tax burden.

The BBC reports that PAC wants to ban external accountants working inside government, to stop them telling clients about tax loopholes they have found.

Errmm, isn't this in fact a practice that is proactively encouraged by HMRC and the Treasury?

Bill Dodwell, head of tax policy at Deloitte, is quoted by Accountancy Live:

"We have seconded staff to the Treasury at their request. "

It should be noted that HMRC are no slouches in recruiting from the private sector, eg HMRC recently appointed Volker Beckers (ex CEO of RWE npower, a company that paid no tax for 2009-2011) as an NED.

On a similar point, have not past HMRC senior directors on leaving HMRC joined the private sector eg Hartnett joining HSBC? HSBC being the company that was fined $1.9BN for various "issues". Therefore will any ban on private sector people working with/for HMRC cover both "sides" of the revolving door?

MPs are whining that accountants were being seconded to work in the government to advise on changes to tax law, but using the position to glean inside knowledge and tell businesses how to avoid tax.

This criticism by MPs is rather "ironic" given that there are quite a few of them who use accountants themselves to deal with their trusts and financial affairs in a tax efficient manner.

Committee chairwoman Margaret Hodge (who, by happenstance, is in the top 20 of the UK's richest MP's and is worth around £18M) said the practice represented a "ridiculous conflict of interest":

"The large accountancy firms are in a powerful position in the tax world and have an unhealthily cosy relationship with government."

Cough, ermm Margaret...Stemcor!

PAC are also worried about the fact that HMRC are outnumbered by well-resourced accountancy firms in key areas, such as businesses transferring their profits overseas in order to pay less tax.

Errmm, two things here:

1 Given that HMRC is being restructured and staffing levels cut back, how is this a surprise?

2 Regarding offshoring of profits etc..Mapeley!

I leave the final word to HMT

"The analysis and conclusions in the PAC report bear almost no resemblance to reality."

Views and comments, as ever, are always welcome.

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"

Mapeley In The News

Loyal readers will recall that Mapeley, an offshore property company that owns and manages around 60% of HMRC's "estate", occasionally features on this site.

Yesterday the Liverpool Echo reported that a set of offices in Liverpool, once occupied by HMRC and currently owned by Mapeley, will now be turned into flats.

Oddly enough, the article seems to imply (from my reading of it anyway) that people have only recently realised that Mapeley is offshore.

Here is the article in full, please feel free to comment:

"LIVERPOOL’S former tax office building is set to be taken over by a social landlord.

City planners are due to decide on a bid that will see it turned into more than 200 one, two and three-bedroom flats.

It is anticipated there will be considerable demand for one-bed flats in future – either run by social landlords or private firms – because many people in the city are now expected to pay ‘bedroom tax’ on homes with spare rooms.

The ECHO has learned that the former Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is now owned by a company ultimately based in Guernsey, the Mapeley Group.

It was rented back by HMRC until the tax office moved out.

The company,  which used to be owned in part by international financier George Soros,  has recently come in for criticism from MPs over alleged “tax avoidance” because of its off-shore status.

It is one of the two companies that has submitted the planning application to refurbish the five-storey building.

The planning application, brought by Mapeley STEPS (Strategic Transfer of Estate to the Private Sector) and Glenbrook QD Ltd, states: “The development will be funded and delivered by Glenbrook and run and managed on a day to day basis by a third party registered social landlord.”

As well as the 86 one-bedroom, 124 two-bedroom and 20 three-bedroom flats – which will be “high quality accommodation that meets lifetime homes standards” – there will be a community centre, children’s playground and picnic area.

While more than 400 nearby residents were consulted as part of the bid, only one has objected over fears of traffic clogging up the narrow road to the building at Mariners Wharf.

Mystery currently surrounds which housing association will lease the development, as many of the city’s social landlords confirmed they were not involved in the scheme.

Mapeley did not confirm who the social landlord provider was and Glenbrook QD could not be reached by the ECHO for comment.

A spokesman for Mapeley STEPS Contractor Ltd, which collected the rents from HMRC, is “one of several within the Mapeley Group which is based in Guernsey”.

A stake in Mapeley was owned by Mr Soros, the man who came to widespread notoriety when he put a £10bn speculative bet against the pound in 1992, devaluing the currency and sparking what became known as ‘Black Wednesday’.

Martin Ralph, of the Merseyside Trade Unionist and Socialist Council (TUSC), which campaigns against tax avoidance, said the news that HMRC had been paying its rent to offshore companies while it was still in the building was shocking, adding: “This all shows how money flows.

"Benefits get cut because the government says it can’t afford to pay them but the money it does still pay will end up flowing into tax havens.”"

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"