Dedicated to the taxpayers of Britain, and the employees of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), who have to endure the monumental shambles that is HMRC.
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.
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.
The Telegraph reports that the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), in its formal submission to HMRC, is calling for the Government to "tear up" proposed legislation aimed penalising "deliberate wrongdoing" by tax agents and start again.
The submission is in response to an HMRC consultation paper. CIOT are concerned that the legislation in its present form would lead to "absurd outcomes", with innocent advisers and even HMRC staff being held guilty and facing a £5K fine.
I wonder if whoever wins the next election, given how broke the country is, will listen?
Tax does have to be taxing.
Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations
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.
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.
In December 2009 I wrote about HMRC's contract with Mapeley (an offshore property company):
"The National Audit Office (NAO) have issued a report that gives HMRC a well deserved kicking for this contract.
HMRC had promised £1.2BN of savings in maintenance and other costs, as a result of signing with Mapeley. In reality the savings will be around £900M, possibly falling to £650M.
The NAO go on to state that there is now a "significant risk" that the contract will not deliver value for money over the rest of its life.
It seems that, according to the NAO, HMRC had no long-term plan regarding the sale and didn't even know that Mapeley was offshore!
The NAO is of the view that HMRC had not recognised the contract as a major strategic asset, and had not allocated the requisite commercial skills to managing it."
The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has now also made a few comments about the contract. It notes that HMRC lacked the "commercial skills or business acumen" to manage such a large contract effectively, while its reputation had been damaged by its involvement with an offshore firm (seemingly HMRC didn't even realise at the time that Mapeley was offshore).
HMRC signed a 20 year contract with Mapeley STEPS in 2001 to take over the ownership and management of 60% of its estate, it expected to pay £3.3BN at today's prices.
However, it has already overpaid £312M and the final cost is expected to hit £3.87BN.
PAC states that HMRC should have realised it would have to take a more proactive approach. Most especially as Mapeley was a new company, which had put in a low bid.
In fact Mapeley has already had to seek financial assistance from HMRC to deal with "serious cash flow problems", as a result of the economic downturn and falling property values.
How ironic that HMRC, a staunch and shouty opponent of tax avoidance has in fact signed a contract that involves tax avoidance through an offshore company.
Clearly a case of do as we say, rather than do as we do!
Tax does have to be taxing.
Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations
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.
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.
Oh dear it would appear that HMRC are inhabiting some form of time/space vortex that enables them to state and believe two contradictory "facts" at the same time.
HMRC recently sent my dear old mum two letters:
- One (a tax assessment) stating that she had overpaid her tax
- The other (a coding notice) stating that she had underpaid her tax
Normally, in the real world, such a paradox could not exist. However, in HMRC's world such a paradox is the norm.
Suffice to say, one letter is correct the other is incorrect.
Tax does have to be taxing.
Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations
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.
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.
"Since September 2008, we have been trying to stop HM Revenue & Customs giving us tax credits which we have not asked for and do not want. We have phoned or written seven times to say we are not claiming tax credits. But payments continue. JF, Wakefield, W. Yorkshire
There is no explanation as to why HMRC continued forcing money on you but it has now apologised and assured you that payments, and correspondence, will stop from the end of the tax year tomorrow.
HMRC also says it will not ask you to repay any money."
Anyone else having money "forced upon them" by HMRC?
Tax does have to be taxing.
Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations
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.
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.
"Are the agent telephone lines still working well?
The Tax Faculty is hearing from agents that HMRC's Agent Dedicated Lines (ADLs) are not working as effectively as they did when first introduced.
We understand from some agents that if the contact centre staff cannot help immediately, HMRC is replying by letter rather than calling back. This is causing problems for some agents as the reply is taking up to three weeks. Also, as the agent has not had a chance to speak to someone and explain the problem fully, their question is sometimes not answered satisfactorily.
We are interested to know your experience on:
-How easy it is to get through to ADLs on the telephone -How often HMRC contact centre staff are able to answer your query immediately -If they can't do this, what is the call back time? -If you don't get a call back, are you instead receiving a written response? -How long is it taking overall to receive a satisfactory answer to your question? -If the system is not working as well as expected, we want to alert HMRC at an early stage."
Comments and experiences are welcome.
Tax does have to be taxing.
Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations
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.
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.
