E-petition To Stop Closure of HMRC Enquiry Centre Network

There is currently an e-petition on the HMG website calling for the proposed closure of HMRC's enquiry centre network to be stopped.

The text of the petition is shown below, and it can be signed via this link.

Stop the closure of the HMRC Enquiry Centre Network

Responsible department: Her Majesty's Treasury

HMRC announced on 14 March that they propose to close all 281 tax enquiry centres in March 2014.

Taxpayers will no longer be able to walk into an enquiry centre to receive free assistance with their tax issues.

Their only alternatives will be to call the contact centre, write in, check for information online, contact the voluntary sector or in very exceptional circumstances have a face to face meeting with a mobile advisor.

Please sign this to get HMRC to halt the removal of this basic customer service. This certainly does not gel with HMRC's Vision to "make it easy for our customer to get things right"

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"

Authorised Agent Warning From HMRC

HMRC have issued a warning to all and sundry (specifically agents) not to use the HMRC logo, or to state that they are "registered" or "authorised" agents of HMRC.

The full text of the warning is reproduced below:

Agents who advertise as registered or authorised agents of HMRC

Some tax agents advertise their services by using the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) logo or stating that they are 'registered' or 'authorised' agents of HMRC. This is unacceptable.

HMRC believes that this is misleading because it implies that these agents have been endorsed by HMRC. HMRC does not approve, accredit or endorse anyone.

Tax agents must register with HMRC in order to deal with the department on behalf of a client, but this is a process purely to enable agents to interact with the department.

The HMRC name and logo is protected by crown copyright. If HMRC becomes aware of misleading claims or advertising, the department will take legal action. The majority of tax agents comply with HMRC's requirements for advertising but there are firms who will continue to promote themselves in this inappropriate way.

Find out how to authorise an accountant to deal with HM Revenue & Customs for you

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's Employer Bulletin

As per HMRC's September Employer Bulletin:

"HMRC would like to thank all employers, pension providers, agents and software developers who have helped to make the move to real time reporting go so smoothly. With a change of this size, there have inevitably been a few teething troubles but, working together with employers, their representatives and their software providers, these have quickly been put right."

The Bulletin goes on to announce the introduction of Generic Notifications:

"HMRC wants to help employers get things right and to avoid incurring penalties. To that end, in October we will introduce a series of new notifications aimed at helping employers to manage their PAYE affairs. These will be referred to as ‘generic notifications’.

What are generic notifications?

These are electronic messages to help you manage your PAYE affairs. Initially we will be sending four types of messages to employers, all of which are designed to advise employers that they are at risk of incurring penalties in future."

Additionally transitional arrangements for employers with fewer than 50 employees were originally scheduled to end on 5 October this year but, after listening to stakeholders, it will come to an end in April 2014.

 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"

Avoidance Cases – What Happens To Repayment Claims?

Last week HMRC issued an update outlining its policy on withholding repayment claims in avoidance cases:

"HMRC aims to stop tax avoiders from acquiring an advantage, even a temporary advantage, over the majority of taxpayers who don't try to get around the rules."

The rationale being that in the year ended 31 March 2013, there were 32 decisions in the Tribunals and Courts in tax avoidance cases. HMRC won 26 of those cases (82%) with over £1bn protected.

"The small minority who engage in tax avoidance should not gain a tax advantage during the period from the tax due date to the time when we complete our enquiries and resolve any dispute......

Not only do we challenge the permanent tax result that the avoidance scheme claims to produce, but we also look to deny interim or temporary 'cash flow' benefits from engaging in avoidance, particularly where a scheme claims to give rise to a tax repayment or some other form of personal tax relief."

The methodology will be as follows:

"In appropriate circumstances, we withhold income tax repayments where the claims which produce them constitute (in our opinion) tax avoidance, and where we are challenging or considering challenging those claims by enquiry. If we are satisfied that a claim for repayment does not depend (or does not wholly depend) on tax avoidance, we do of course work with customers and their agents with a view to making an appropriate provisional repayment."

As to the time factor involved, HMRC state:

"If we withhold a repayment in any income tax case, our guidance makes it clear that there should be no undue delay in opening an enquiry."

As ever, views and comments are welcome.

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"

The Joy of Staples II

My thanks to Mike Truman editor of Taxation who pointed me to the original source of the quote from HMRC about stapling forms 64-8 together.

As per CIOT:

"At a recent meeting with HMRC, the CIOT along with members of other professional bodies, established a simple solution to a problem experienced by many in relation to paper forms 64-8. As a result, HMRC have issued this message concerning the stapling together of forms relating to the same individual/partners to avoid these becoming separated before processing. This simple solution to a problem experienced by many is worth noting. HMRC update begins: 

'An agent cannot be authorised to act for a client until a record has been created for that client - and this is of particular importance for SA. If an SA1 (or CWF1 or SA 400 or SA 402) is not processed by the time the 64-8 is actioned then there will be no SA record to authorise the agent for and the 64-8 will be put away. To overcome this the SA1, CWF1, SA 400 or SA 402 should be stapled to the 64-8 when it is submitted. A single staple in the top left hand corner will be sufficient. A specialist team within Centralised Agent Authorisation Team (CAAT) deal with these forms together so that your client is registered for SA and you are set up as their agent at the same time. If the forms are not stapled they are likely to become separated and there could be a problem with the 64-8.

In general we would prefer letters submitted to HMRC were not stapled, but in this case it will help the pages stay together and so allow them to be processed together, speeding up the process for you and your clients.'
Technical Team
30 August 2013"

However, my thanks to another loyal reader who pointed me to this where HMRC state:

"Send the registration forms - and any agent authorisation forms 64-8 - to HMRC at the following address. Please do not attach covering letters or staple items together as this will slow down the registration process."

Hmmm..all a tad confusing!
 
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"

The Joy of Staples

My thanks to a loyal reader who alerted me to an article in Taxation magazine, that notes that HMRC have issued a directive concerning the stapling of the two page 64-8 requests that deal with authorising agents.

The directive, according to Taxation, notes that "..a single staple in the top left hand corner will be sufficient...If the forms are not stapled they are likely to become separated and there could be a problem with the 64-8..."

Oddly enough, HMRC generally prefer correspondence not to be stapled.

Does anyone have a link to the relevant page on the HMRC site where is advice is given please?

Thanks.



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"