Go East

I see that Dave Hartnett of HMRC is enamoured of China, specifically the Chinese method of taxing small businesses.

The Telegraph reports that Hartnett has told David Gauke, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, and the independent Office for Tax Simplification (OTS) that China's new "turnover tax" has "appeared to have a very positive effect on tax compliance".

Gauke (a lawyer with little financial expertise) has now asked the OTS to examine new ways of taxing Britain's 1.8m sole trading businesses that are earning less than £20K per annum.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

It seems that Hartnett is of the view that small firms are responsible for a "sizeable element" of the UK's "tax gap". I wonder if he would care to provide figures to back that claim up?

Tax does have to be taxing.

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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"

HMRC Overtaxes Traders

The Oxford Mail reports that HMRC have allegedly been overtaxing some small businesses, in order to boost their performance related pay.

Alun Curtis, an HMRC tax inspector, claims that HMRC unfairly charged traders too much tax to make it look as if they had successfully solved cases and deserved performance-related pay.

Mr Curtis made his claims at an employment tribunal in Reading, and said that he had taken his concerns to bosses in the HMRC, but believed his speaking out led to him being vilified since he first made the allegations in 2008 and 2009.

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"

Advice To David Gauke

Get your figures right before you open your mouth.

Well done Accountancy Age for spotting this!

"Exchequer secretary to the Treasury David Gauke originally told Parliament that a total of 9,600 non-doms would pay an annual remittance charge in 2012-13, which allows them to pay tax only on money remitted to the UK and not on total worldwide income.

This was an increase on the 7,400 non-doms expected to pay the charge in 2011-12, despite chancellor George Osborne announcing an increase in the charge for non-doms who had been resident in the UK for 12 or more of the previous 14 years from £30,000 to £50,000.

However, following an investigation by Accountancy Age, Gauke yesterday told Parliament that the figures for 2012-13 were 6,300 in total, with 2,600 people paying the £30,000 and 3,700 paying the increased £50,000 charge."

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"

Impersonating HMRC

Oh dear, it seems that at least one of the private debt collection agencies used by HMRC got a tad carried away with itself in May and "pretended" to be HMRC.

Naughty naughty!

Here is an unedited post about the incident on AccountingWeb:

"Phone call just now:

"Hello, can I speak to Mr Client please?"

Who's calling?

"HMRC"

We are his agent, this isn't his number.

"Can you get him to call us on 0845xxxx ref 123456789"

That's 9 digits - are you sure? If you're HMRC, we are his registered agent, can we help?"

"We are calling on behalf of HMRC"

So you aren't HMRC?

"No"

They were a debt collection agency. Makes me mad. Interestingly a google of their name throws up on result 3 an article called "[name] recovery - idiots". Result 2 calls them idiots also..."

Under the Commissioners for Revenue & Customs Act 2005, section 30(1):

30(1) A person commits an offence if he pretends to be a Commissioner or an officer of Revenue and Customs with a view to obtaining–
(a) admission to premises,
(b) information, or
(c) any other benefit.

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"

A Dangerous Obsession

HMG and HMRC have developed an unhealthy obsession with tax avoidance (a perfectly legal and perfectly logical practice) in their desperation to raise money to keep the ship of state afloat.

In HMRC's recent consultation document "High-risk areas of the tax code: Relief for income tax losses" (published on 30 June 2011) the phrases "robust defences against avoidance" and "the strategy focuses on preventing tax avoidance before it occurs to protect the Exchequer and increase certainty for taxpayers" appear in paragraph 1.1 on page 4.

Paragraph 1.5 then goes on to say:

"However, loss reliefs that can be used to reduce or eliminate tax on general income or capital gains have regularly been used for tax avoidance purposes."

So what?

Avoidance is legal, even though the government (members of which use tax professionals to minimise their tax payments) would like avoidance (except when they are practising it) to be made illegal.

Paragraph 1.6 "HMRC’s internal review has identified the income tax loss reliefs that are most prone to misuse for tax avoidance purposes."

"Misuse"??

Does HMRC regard avoidance as a crime?

Paragraph 1.8 offers the reader some hope that HMRC have finally realised that tax legislation has become far too complex:

"Continued attempts to prevent avoidance through legislative change have made the legislation unwieldy and complex, meaning there is also some potential for simplification."

However, that hope is crushed by paragraph 2.14 that asks for more legalisation:

"It is desirable, and would be more cost-effective for both taxpayers and HMRC, to have a legislative structure that provides certainty and deters tax avoidance involving sideways loss relief at the outset. This would eliminate the need for HMRC to investigate and litigate each individual case on its particular facts."

HMRC require feedback by 30 September, feel free to let them know what you think of it and also to advise them of the various tax avoidance measures currently used by members of the government, MPs and the companies which they run.

Given the obsession with avoidance, I suspect HMRC would have some rich pickings if it went after our "respected" elected representatives.

Wouldn't that be fun?:)

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"

Life After HMRC

As is evident from the many comments made on this site, many people do not enjoy working for HMRC and despair about their future.

However, all is not doom and gloom, I came across this story today that shows there is life after HMRC, if you are sufficiently high up the greasy pole.

Gabriel Makhlouf was director of dispute resolution at HMRC until 2010, look how far he has gone now!

Seemples!

I reproduce the article in full from The National Business Review:

"The Treasury’s deputy chief executive and acting secretary, Gabriel Makhlouf, has been appointed chief executive and secretary, the State Services Commission said today.

Mr Makhlouf, who has been acting in the role since June 1 following the departure of former Secretary John Whitehead, arrived in New Zealand from the United Kingdom in March 2010 to join the Treasury.

He almost immediately caused controversy with a call for Treasury to drop all screening of foreign investment.

Commenting after NBR’s story on Mr Makhlouf’s position, readers were split.

For some, dropping all screening opened the country to the likes of May Wang (the once-bankrupt Crafar Farms bidder blocked by the Overseas Investment Office).

For others, it was more a case of quid pro quo.

“Of course Gabriel Makhlouf is right,” read another comment. “Anyone who disagrees with him will also be insisting any company in NZ which own assets overseas must sell them, or leave NZ.”

Mr Makhlouf is also a member of a special advisory group of state services leaders formed as part of Finance Minister Bill English's bid to slash $1 billion from state sector spending.

Prior to joining Treasury, Mr Makhlouf was the director, dispute resolution at HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the UK - although perhaps his most notable role was that of private secretary to Gordon Brown during his time as UK Chancellor of the Exchequer.

He joined HMRC in 2005 as the director, debt management and banking and in 2008 he was appointed as the director, banking services, HMRC.

Other senior management roles held by Mr Makhlouf in the United Kingdom Civil Service included director, international in Inland Revenue UK from 1998 to 2003 and director, Capital and Savings from 2003 to 2005.

From 2000 to 2004 he was chairman of the committee on fiscal affairs at the OECD.

Mr Makhlouf has been appointed for a five year term and will take up the position on 28 June 2011."

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"