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.
My thanks to a loyal reader who dropped me a summery of the Face to Face Customer Survey Satisfaction Results April to November 2010:
-98% of customers are satisfied with the service they received. -98% of customers were happy with the time between requesting and receiving an appointment. -99% of customers felt they were dealt with in a professional way. -97% found the EC environment friendly -99% felt they were treated as individuals by staff. -73% of interviews were tax, 17% Tax Credits, 10% Other HMRC -54% of customers tried to get information from other HMRC options before their appointment (48% tried phone, 6% wrote and 7% website)
As you can see, they are very good indeed.
Yet HMRC have not publicised these either externally or internally.
For why?
HMRC's "strategy" is to move away from face to face encounters with "customers", survey results that show they do this very well are not at all welcome. Indeed Richard James, Head of Face to Face operations, is looking for ways to increase the 54% of respondees who used other HMRC options first.
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.
Why did Dave Hartnett, Permanent Secretary for Tax, fly business class to Mumbai at the beginning of December with Melissa Tatton (HMRC's Deputy Director of Business International) to participate in a third rate talking shop for Indian accountants and tax officials?
The four nights they spent in rooms on the executive floor of the five-star ITC Maratha Hotel in Mumbai would doubtless have been bearable, but was their trip really necessary?
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.
The 2010 HMRC staff survey results have now been published on the HMRC website. (For comparison purposes here is the 2009 survey - published by the government in 2010)
- Engagement index 3% lower than last year and 23% below civil service average.
- 12% would recommend HMRC to work in (3% down on last year), and 15% are proud to tell people they work form HMRC (3% down).
- 9% think that changes made are for the better (1% down).
- 12% think that HMRC is run well (1% down), 18% think that senior managers will take action based on the survey (3% up)...and so on.
You can read what Strathie said (in June this year) about the last survey (which was published in February 2010) here.
Here is a brief extract:
"We may not see much, if any, improvement in the next set of People Survey results. These issues are deep-seated and will take time to turn round; with your help, we can do that."
All in all things have got worse, even the response rate (69%) is not that encouraging.
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.
It seems that HMRC are enacting some form of "blockade" (usually regarded as an act of war when conducted on the international stage) against Christopher Lunn & Co (CLAC), a Sussex accounting firm.
The firm claims that HMRC is refusing to deal with it, and will not allow it to file certain tax returns while it is being investigated.
According to the FT CLAC were raided by HMRC in June 2010 and the firm's files taken.
Despite the investigation going on for the last 6 months, HMRC have not told them why they are being investigated. CLAC suspect it is part of HMRC's much vaunted (unless of course you are Vodafone or a friend of Hartnett) anti avoidance campaign.
In a letter sent by HMRC to clients on 30 November 2010, HMRC stated:
"The Commissioners of Revenue and Customs have come to the decision that in light of all the circumstances, there is no alternative other than to cease to deal with CLAC as an agent or representative for any of our customers. This includes communication in writing, via the telephone or by any electronic means."
A decision on the High Court civil action is due in the coming weeks.
Guilty until proven innocent appears to be the maxim of HMRC.
Should this department be given such powers, and be allowed to treat firms and individuals in such a high handed manner without due process?
Power of this nature, especially when in the hands of unelected bureaucrats, corrupts.
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.
Unfortunately, they have not yet been published on a department by department basis.
Could it be that some departments are trying to hide their shame, and will release the results at a time when everyone is pissed on the last working day before Christmas?
The deadline for departmental publication is not very challenging, 31 January 2011!
In the event that anyone has a copy please either leak it to me or WikiLeaks.
Thanks.
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.
