Faith

My thanks to a loyal reader who has advised me that HMRC Directorate appears to have lost faith in some of its management in at least one HMRC centre.

It seems that in at least one HMRC centre, control over the people survey (or rather the follow up/response to the results of the people survey) has been moved from management to the Directorate.

Senior Management Teams (SMTs) are local management groups usually led by a G6 or G7 looking after Senior Officers (SOs). I am advised that SMTs have failed to improve engagement scores in their areas, so the response to the people survey has been handed to the Directorate.

This change in control implies that ExComm have lost faith in the management on the ground (in at least one centre).

The fact that control has been passed up the line at least shows that ExComm are trying to address the issues raised in the last survey. However, will this change in control actually lead to an improvement, or is this merely a sacrifice of SMTs to appease the gods?

In the event that the Directorate fail, will they be sacrificed as well?

Serious questions need to be asked as to why SMTs were unable to "engage" with local staff and work with them for an improvement?

Does this mean that Pacesetter (the sacred totem of ExComm) is in effect flawed and failing?

Feel free to comment and share your views and experiences.

More will follow.

Tax does have to be taxing.

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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

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Security Matters - FAQ

Question:

When is a secure email address not secure?

Answer:

When it is assigned to HMRC

My thanks to the loyal readers (see comments below) who highlighted this issue.

Loyal Reader #1

"I spoke to an Inspector the other day and asked for her gsi e-mail address, only to be told that she couldn't correspond by e-mail "for security reasons". As I remember, "gsi" stands for Government Secure Internet. Form your own conclusions. "

Loyal Reader #2

"I have a gsi address also and have been told that because of data security issues I am not allowed to receive external emails from the public.
This is after we were told to reduce the amount that is printed - when I suggested sending it by email I was told it wasn't a secure method of communication - go figure ..... "

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"

Post Procedures

HMRC is introducing a new procedure for handling incoming post on enquiry cases. Documents will be scanned and allocated electronically to HMRC's case files. The documents will then either be returned to the sender, or securely destroyed.

Testing of the new procedure began in March 2011, the roll out will occur in September. However, there is some concern over what HMRC will do with the original documents after scanning.

Whilst some documents (eg P60s, birth, death and marriage certificates, passports) will be returned, others will be securely destroyed within 40 days unless the sender asks for them to be returned.

Various professional bodies have advised HMRC that it needs to be clearer as to what it will automatically return. As such HMRC has issued an update stating that it is now reviewing its policy for returning original documents.

A further update will be issued in due course.

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"

Treasury Not Up To The Job

Accountancy Age reports that Chas Roy-Chowdhury appeared before the House of Lords Finance Bill committee last week, and told them that the Treasury does not have the necessary expertise to develop tax policy.

Quote:

"We also did not see any problems about tax policy moving across to the Treasury but I think that is now a problem.

I think tax policy is in the wrong place. It ought to go back into HMRC. HMRC has the tax expertise.

The Treasury has the economists, who have not probably ever dealt with tax, so we need to bring it back into HMRC, where the proper consultation happens, where there is proper expertise and where there is proper policy formulation."

I would be interested to hear people's views on this, especially those within HMRC.

Is this really a panacea for HMRC's ills, or merely some tinkering with the deckchairs as the ship continues to sink?

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"

Groundhog Day

It seems that, as with the regular cycle of the seasons, there is yet another government "headline catching initiative" to reduce the red tape negatively impacting British business.

The Telegraph reports that the Treasury has asked the Orifice of Tax Simplification (OTS) to identify how bureaucracy in the tax system holds small businesses back.

Exchequer Secretary David Gauke, who is beginning to feature on this site a little too frequently, claims that wants the OTS to identify ways to improve the way that HMRC interacts with small businesses, including the processes involved in starting and growing new firms.

One of the major problems with the tax system, as it currently stands, is that it was set up with a "Victorian mindset" of people working for only one employer. In the real world many people are now self employed, or work for several employers.

Job "flexibility" and "getting on our bikes" has long been pushed by governments of all political persuasions. However, it is ironic that the tax system (under the control of these governments) remains rigidly inflexible wrt "portfolio" working.

As to whether anything tangible comes of this latest "initiative", remains to be seen. I would observe:

1 Governments, over the last few decades, have all claimed that they want to reduce the burden on business. Yet that burden has steadily increased over the years. These "initiatives" for reducing red tape make nice headlines, yet nothing ever seems to come of them.

2 HMRC's mess is the direct result of government interference, and the ever increasing complexity of tax legislation. The solution lies in the hands of the politicians.

3 Politicians thrive on complexity and tinkering with the law/regulations.

Why?

They need to show the voters that they perform a useful function, and that we cannot do without them.

In order for things to change/improve those who control the system (ie the politicians) must genuinely want things to change/improve.

The question is, do the politicians really want things to change and improve?

All views and comments, as always, welcome.

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"

Debt Collection - HMRC Targets Nothing To Pay

It seems that HMRC have been sending letters to businesses informing them that their "outstanding tax debts" have been transferred to the HMRC's Distraint Department "to list your goods so that they may be sold at a public auction".

A tad "harsh" given that these letters, "signed" by imaginary non existent people, are being sent to businesses that owe ZERO.

Accountancy Age quote Paul Aplin, partner at A C Mole & Sons, who says that his clients have begun receiving these types of letters in the past few months.

"The thing that is missing from the letter is the amount of the debt that has prompted HMRC to consider such serious action.

The figure is, in fact, nil."

It seems that the letters are generated automatically when a "nil payment" submission has not been received by HMRC.

HMRC told Accountancy Age that these letters were being sent out, because HMRC was becoming more efficient in chasing debts.

So that's alright then!

This doesn't waste resources (eg HMRC's time in sorting the problem out, businesses time in responding, call centre time in answering complaints etc) then???

Ellen Green, an independent accountant, called the HMRC helpline and was told by call centre staff that there was a lack of morale in the front office as a result of the problems the letters are causing.

She was also told that contact names on the letter were made up.

However, as HMRC said, these letters are because HMRC is now more efficient in chasing debts!

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"