Troup's Offshore Dalliance

As the political and media hoo-hah continues over offshoring, and the related tax implications, it appears that neither HMRC nor the Guardian have a sense of irony over the facts that HMRC's property management company is Mapeley (which has an offshore presence) and that the Guardian has itself used (maybe still uses) an offshore vehicle.

Anyhoo, that aside the media (eg the Guardian) reports today that:

"The boss of Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the government department overseeing a £10m inquiry into the Panama Papers, was a partner at a top City law firm that acted for Blairmore Holdings and other offshore companies named in the leak.

Edward Troup, executive chair of HMRC since April, is a former partner at Simmons & Simmons, whose clients have included the Panama-registered fund created by David Cameron’s father, Ian."

Whoever said that HMRC doesn't do irony?

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



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"

Cameron's Moral Outrage

In June 2012 I wrote about the howls of moral outrage emanating from David Cameron about Jimmy Carr's tax avoidance scheme.

Cameron boldly proclaimed to the world that Jimmy Carr's tax arrangement "isn't morally right". 

I also noted:

"I would also remind the Prime Minister that raising a hue and cry over tax avoidance (eg in the form of the investigation of civil servants on off payroll schemes) is all very well, but what happens when your proud boasts to end these schemes come to nowt?.....

...Cameron has got himself well and truly stuck on top of the Savage Mountain (aka K2), not only will his "promises" to deal with these schemes come to nowt, but he has effectively declared open season on every Tory MP, every Tory candidate and every Tory donor. The media and other interested parties will pore over their finances with a fine tooth-comb, and one by one every single tax avoidance scheme (that the PM finds "immoral") will be made public (I guarantee there are hundreds of Tory MPs and Tory donors etc using these such schemes).
Cameron has lost touch with reality, in a desperate attempt to grab a soundbite and pander to the anti avoidance lobby.
To repeat what I said yesterday:

"Avoidance is a perfectly normal human thing to try to do, the politicians are not in a position to lecture the rest of us on "morality."

A politician lecturing us on morality is as natural as a cat walking on its hind legs."

In July 2012 I wrote:

"David Gauke said that the government will name and shame wealthy people who use "aggressive" tax avoidance schemes. Gauke went on to say that companies offering such products will be forced to hand over details of their clients."

Fast forward to 2016, and it transpires that Cameron had a modest holding in an offshore fund (set up by his father) which he sold in 2010. 

Now of course there is nothing illegal in that. However, to have spent some years venting his spleen against tax avoidance makes him look a tad hypocritical does it not?

As I have noted on several occasions on this site, politicians who rage against tax avoidance will one day find that their public moralising will come back to bite them on their arses; as a politician lecturing us on morality is as natural as a cat walking on its hind legs!

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



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"

Plans For Quarterly Tax Returns Rubbished

In a report published on 5 April, the Administrative Burdens Advisory Board (ABAB) has warned that the plans announced by George Osborne to introduce a new digital tax system for the self-employed (including mandatory quarterly updates) would create a significant added burden in terms of accounting records and costs for SMEs.

Quoted by the Guardian:

“Compulsory digital record-keeping and quarterly online updates is not an approach we can endorse.

We are concerned that the proposals for quarterly updates will be more burdensome than they currently are with increased record-keeping and compliance costs. This will have a big impact on the smallest of businesses.”

The Federation of Small Businesses doesn't think much of the idea either.

Mike Cherry, national chairman, said:

“Forcing small firms to pay for expensive digital accounting software so they must submit extra tax returns is not going to help anyone. It will simply add to the cost of doing business in the UK. When every independent body and expert is lining up to tell you to stop, slow down and think again, it might be time to take a breather and listen to their concerns.”

A spokesperson from HMRC said:

“We are focussed on creating a tax system that is more effective, more efficient and easier for taxpayers and we will work closely with stakeholders to address their concerns. 99% of businesses already file their corporation tax online and 98% of VAT returns are filed online. 

The new digital accounts, which are not being introduced until 2018, will simply integrate the different information businesses already provide to HMRC into a simpler, streamlined system. This will reduce the burden of updating HMRC for small businesses.”

Let's see how that works out in reality then!

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



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"

Happy New Tax Year!

 

Happy New Tax Year everyone!

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



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 To Enter EU Referendum Campaign

Having been pressured by the Treasury Select Committee, HMRC will reveal the number of EU migrants working in the UK. The figures, in theory, will be presented towards the end of April.

The data will identify how many National Insurance numbers are actively being used by people from the European Economic Area (EEA), how many have paid national insurance contributions or PAYE income tax or have claimed any HMRC administrated tax credit or benefits.

Economia reports that ONS figures have shown that 904,000 EU nationals moved to UK in the last five years, but 2.25 million NI numbers were issued during this period. This is a gap of 1.3 million EU migrants living in the UK.

HMRC will need to be careful that it is not drawn into the spat between the "In and Out" factions in the EU referendum debate.

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



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"

Going Postal

My thanks to a loyal reader who alerted me to a wee discussion on AccountingWeb about HMRC postal delays:

"I sent a letter to HMRC, PO Box 168, Bootle four weeks ago and a copy of the original letter about ten days ago.

Neither have appeared on the HMRC "system" yet.

Is there a delay between receiving the letter and scanning it? If so, does anyone know how long the delay is please?"

Methinks the Surge Teams are going to have a busy summer!

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



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"