Thursday 31 July 2014

Building Our Future - Sod Off

My thanks to a loyal reader who sent me his impressions of HMRC's Building Our Future event that he attended recently.

Seemingly it was, and I quote here:
"Total crap"
Three directors, one from personal tax, attended and read from hastily prepared scripts. I am advised that one of the directors seemed really bored totally out of his wits.

The conference room was half empty, some of the tables were empty and deserted.

Those who are not willing to share in HMRC's 2020 vision will not have a future at HMRC.

Sadly this "sod off" mantra also seems to apply to the taxpayers, eg pensioners and other vulnerable groups, who are unable to use the internet for their taxes and interactions with HMRC.

The future is firmly in front of us!

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"

Wednesday 30 July 2014

Tax Credits Deadline Extended



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"

Business Records Checks - Pissing In The Wind


Following on from my article on Monday about 73% of HMRC's business records checks being fruitless, a loyal reader has advised me of the following:
"Last September I submitted a client company's corporation tax return with the following additional information on it:

1. In our opinion the quality of the accounting records was below the Companies Acts requirements.

2. We were unable to assess the level of closing debtors and creditors.
We are just about to submit this year's return and will have to include the same note again.

Interestingly HMRC have done SFA to check the company's records.
"
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!

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"

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Beware Copycat Websites


Beware the ongoing scam perpetrated by "copycat" tax return websites that charge people money for ordering tax documents that can be obtained for free from the official HMRC site.

People who have, rather unwisely, parted with cash have now attempted to reclaim their money from sites such as Taxreturngateway.com.
 
The Telegraph has heard from 100 victims, each of whom believed, wrongly, that Taxreturngateway was linked to the Government.

It was similar in design to the government, website hmrc.gov.uk, but merely enabled users to order official documents for a "service fee" of up to £1,000.

Some people have managed to get their money back, others haven't.

These people have been duped because they were naive, not net savvy and had little understanding of the tax system (the latter being something that applies to most of the UK's population).

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"

Monday 28 July 2014

73% of HMRC Visits Fruitless


It seems that HMRC's visits to SME's, in order to carry out detailed checks of records etc, are not particularly popular, nor fruitful.

The number of firms forced to undergo a ‘business record check’ has increased by 62% since they were introduced in 2011, yet 73% of these visits have achieved nothing.

This is Money reports that over 5,500 companies underwent the checks in the year to April 2014 (up from 3,431 in the ten months between April 2011 and February 2012). However, 73% were found to have no significant errors (an increase from the 64% in the previous year).

HMRC say that things will now improve, as the checking system had been subject to revisions aimed at filtering out low-risk companies and preventing them from being exposed to the process.
"From November 2013, the BRC programme was scaled back to better target those at risk of having inadequate records. It will allow us to concentrate on those who need our help and reduce the burden on those customers who are keeping adequate records."
See, nothing to complain about 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"

Friday 25 July 2014

Tax Credits Deadline - Almost 1 Million Might Lose Benefit Through Inaction

HMRC has warned that nearly 1 million tax credits claimants stand to lose the benefit if they don't take action by the 31 July deadline.

The text of the HMRC press release is reproduced below:
"With the tax credits renewal deadline just one week away, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding claimants to renew or face losing their payments. 

More than 865,000 claimants have still not renewed their tax credits. They have until 31 July to do so, or their payments might end. Last year more than 650,000 people failed to renew on time.

This year, for the first time, claimants can renew online at GOV.UK, as well as being able to renew by post and phone. 

HMRC recently published a list of reasons given for missing the deadline, including “I didn’t need the money because I’d met a rich bloke, but he dumped me”, “my dog ate the form” and “the form was locked in the boot of my car, and then my car caught fire”. 

Nick Lodge, Director General of Benefits and Credits, HMRC, said:

“Time is running out for people to renew their tax credits, or they risk losing their money. 

“The majority of people can renew online this year, which is quick, easy and can be done at a time of day to suit them.

“However they choose to renew, the most important thing is to do it before 31 July.” 

HMRC asks all claimants to check the accuracy of the information in their renewals pack, and to tell the department about any changes to their circumstances that they haven’t already reported, such as to working hours, childcare costs or pay.

Notes for editors
1.  Over 5.8 million tax credits renewal packs were sent to claimants between April and June.
2.  Claimants can get help and information on tax credits renewals from: gov.uk/browse/benefits/tax-credits and the Tax Credits helpline – 0345 300 3900"
However, it should also be noted that during next week's busy period for HMRC, some HMRC staff may be on strike and/or not working overtime.

As per PCS:
"The action will be rolled over three days (see above) with different regions involved on different days around the peak in work anticipated on Tax Credits and Self Assessment."
Don't delay to make your claim.
 
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"

Thursday 24 July 2014

HMRC Moving With The Times


Despite HMRC's management of the Aspire project being "unacceptably poor", I am pleased to see that not everything in the HMRC IT garden is withering on the vine.

A loyal reader writes:
"We're getting up to date, moving on to the "new windows" - yes, that's the windows 7 that was released in 2009!!!"
That's the spirit!

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"

Wednesday 23 July 2014

HMRC's £10BN Aspire Contract - Unacceptably Poor


As loyal readers know, I have on occasions written about HMRC's Aspire contract; eg in August 2013 I wrote:
"HMRC has spent over £3.7BN with Capgemini over the last five years on the Aspire contract. The contract was originally valued at £2.8BN.

As per Computing the spend was:

-2008/09:  £777.1m
-2009/10:  £728.9m
-2010/11:  £757.8m
-2011/12:  £735.5m
-2012/13:  £773.5m

HMRC won't reveal a more detailed breakdown of its costs:

"It is considered that disclosure of details about cost breakdown of payments made by HMRC to Capgemini would prejudice the commercial interests of HMRC as a contracting authority and our ability to deliver best value.
It is also considered that release of such information would weaken our supplier's position in a competitive environment by revealing market-sensitive information or information of potential usefulness to its competitors."
Does this spend represent value for money?"
Fast forward almost a year, and we see Aspire in the headlines yet again.

The National Audit Office (NAO) says, in a report entitled Managing and Replacing The Aspire Contract, that the Aspire contract cost £7.9BN between July 2004 and March 2014, and estimates that, by the time it ends in June 2017, HMRC will have spent £10.4BN.

Note that the original contract was valued at £2.8BN.

How on earth has the spend so skyrocketed out of control?

Very simple, additional projects and services have been added. Unfortunately these have not been market tested; ie HMRC has happily allowed the new work to be done by Capgemini without checking to see if it could be done better or more cheaply by others.
"Both Capgemini and its subcontractor, Fujitsu, have achieved considerably more profit than was modelled in 2004. "
Well done lads!

The NAO report also notes that HMRC was overly dependent on the technical capability of the Aspire suppliers between 2004 and 2012, which limited its ability to manage the contract commercially.

"There are serious risks to HMRC’s business if the programme to replace the Aspire contract fails to meet its objectives by June 2017, when the contract ends."
Amyas Morse, NAO head, said:
"HMRC faced complex, long term technology challenges, and Aspire provided an appropriate means of working through them and limiting risk. However, there has been a lack of rigour in HMRC's commercial management of the contract. 

It is essential in any contract that the client retains the independent expertise to challenge the supplier. We welcome HMRC’s recognition of this part way through the Aspire contract and its efforts now to rebuild its capability. 

HMRC now faces a considerable challenge in a limited amount of time to negotiate reform to the contract while at the same time defining its technology strategy for post-Aspire."
Margaret Hodge, chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) described HMRC’s management of Aspire as ‘unacceptably poor’.

Quite so!

She went on to say:
"Its own lack of capability meant HMRC was over-reliant on providers’ technical expertise, undermining its ability to act as an intelligent customer on behalf of the taxpayer. All of this gives me little confidence that HMRC’s senior team has the capability to manage large and complex contracts."
I agree, as I have noted many times before government departments do not manage large IT projects well.

This is indeed UNACCEPTABLY POOR!

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"

Tuesday 22 July 2014

Where's Dotty?


My thanks to a loyal reader who posted this comment the other day in response to my article about Dorthy Brown:
"Dorothy Brown is now the PT ops director and has nothing to do with the chief people officer role Ken"
It seems there is some confusion (in my mind at least) as to what Brown's role actually is now.

For you see, according to Gov.UK she is still "Interim Chief People Officer":
"Biography
Dorothy joined HMRC as the HR Director for Personal Tax Group in January 2008 and becomes the Interim Chief People Officer following her role as the Director Workforce Management for HMRC and HR Director for Enforcement & Compliance.

Between June 2009 and March 2012 Dorothy was Director of HR Operations for HMRC, responsible for HR Shared Services, Employee Relations and Advice, Reward and Policy, Security and Information, Occupational Health and Safety and Employee Engagement. Dorothy joined HR in the Court Service in 1991 and was the HMCS HR Director prior to joining HMRC. Before that she worked in different business areas of the Lord Chancellor’s Department, including Finance, Audit and the Crown Court."
Additionally, according to LinkedIn she is HR Director.

Please can someone send me a link or document that shows her current title?

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"

Monday 21 July 2014

What a Whopper!



The Finance Bill received Royal Assent on 17 July 2014 and Finance Act 2014, at 646 pages, is the second longest Finance Act ever.
 
I thought this government had promised simplification?

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"

Saturday 19 July 2014

Dorothy Brown - Building Our Future


My thanks to a loyal reader who forwarded me the following message sent to HMRC staff from Dorothy Brown Interim Chief People Officer (oddly enough in 2013 she was Chief People Officer, why now is she only "Interim"?).

Her message contains one minor glitch, in the second paragraph she doesn't use a capital "F" in the "Building our Future" phrase.

That's definitely off message!
  
"Personal Tax Operations
Building our Future in PT Operations – the next steps
17 July 2014

Now that the first wave of Building our Future events has taken place in PT Operations I wanted to write and give you an update on what’s happening next with all the feedback you’ve given us.

Building our future, HMRC’s national conversation about the future of our department has been taking place in PT Operations for nearly six weeks now. You’ll remember that because July is the busiest time of the year for our helplines I asked for the roll-out of these events to be brought forward so that as many people as possible were able to attend an event before the end of June. So far we’ve run over 60 sessions for around 7,000 of our people. This is a great achievement and everyone else will have an opportunity to attend an event by the mid-August.

The first thing I want to say is a huge thank you to everyone for bringing such lively enthusiasm, passion and debate to the conversation. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend a number of events and your commitment and dedication to do the best for our customers and your desire to be involved in the way we transform HMRC really shone through.

The feedback from the events has been phenomenal – and a number of similar issues keep coming-up again and again. You are rightly interested in what a move to regional centres will mean, how new digital tools will impact on our work, and about career opportunities, training and communications.

While Building our Future is a going to be an ongoing conversation, I don’t want us to delay in addressing the areas when we can do something now:

Training – has been a big issue at every single event and you’ve told us that there should be a better balance between online learning and face-to-face training when changes are introduced.

I want us to work with you to look at how future learning is managed. As a first step, and in response to your concerns, training to support the introduction of digitised mail will now be delivered face-to-face instead of using e-learning.

IT and security – has been another major talking point and you’ve expressed concerns that our systems aren’t fit for purpose. Our people in Dundee told me about some real issues that were affecting their work. To try and address these problems I have arranged for a team from the Chief Digital and Information Officer’s (CDIO) area to go and spend some time with our front-line staff to see the problems caused by unreliable IT kit.

Office environment – you’ve told us that the condition and cleanliness of your offices often leaves a lot to be desired. In particular colleagues in Manchester expressed real concerns about the maintenance of their building. I have directly approached the Director of Estates and Support Services (ESS) about fixing these problems and I’m pleased to report that a new cleaning programme in Manchester has now been implemented.

These might seem like small issues, but I want you to know that we are committed to addressing immediate issues where we can. We are collating all of the written feedback from your sessions and will analyse this in detail.

The first phase of Building our Future is nearly complete, and a second wave of events will start in October. Many of you have told me that you are still reserving judgement and will be waiting to see what happens next. I want you to know that I will be striving to keep up the momentum and to demonstrate our commitment to this two-way conversation. I’m meeting with my senior leadership team on 11 August to look at more of your feedback and to discuss the next steps. Following this meeting you can expect to see regular communication from us on the progress we are making with Building our Future in PT Operations.

Dorothy"

Given that she is now only "Interim", HMRC staff may choose to take what she says with a pinch of salt.

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"

Friday 18 July 2014

Homer Deserves Her Bonus


I am pleased to see that Lin Homer, current CEO of HMRC, feels that she has done such a good job that she deserves her £15K-£20K bonus.

Homer said she should keep on to a bonus, saying it reflected “a very good performance”.
Homer is quoted by the Telegraph telling PAC:
We have tried to make sure we are rewarding a very good performance from a number of people.

I’m confident the bonuses that were given out were deserved. I don’t feel that anything we’ve explained to you has warranted any review of that.”
What say you loyal readers?

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"

Thursday 17 July 2014

HMRC's Second Annual Conference - Live Tweets



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 Second Annual Conference



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"

Ingenious Tax Avoidance


Former government chief whip Andrew Mitchell has invested in a high-profile film financing company considered to be a tax avoidance scheme by HMRC.

A case of our elected representatives following the old maxim of "Do as we say, not as we do"!

MPs are going to regret opening Pandora's Box by demonising tax avoidance.

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 2020 Vision - Building Our Future Feedback


My thanks to a loyal reader, who has given me some feedback on what HMRC staff think about the series of events/presentations by HMRC entitled "Building Our Future".

In short, HMRC staff who have attended "Building Our Future" are somewhat underwhelmed.

Staff are herded into a room on the third floor of Chelsea Stadium, and then endure a 30 minute registration process.

A PowerPoint presentation is then given about the possible benefits of a digital HMRC. After which a facilitator then attempts to stimulate a discussion, then a director comes around each table giving lectures and advice.

Seemingly staff have come back from the event very angry, saying it's a waste of time.

I welcome further feedback about this.

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"

Wednesday 16 July 2014

HMRC's £15BN debt


The National Audit Office has stated that uncollected government debt owed to HMRC is £15.1BN (out of £22BN in total owed to all government departments), despite the use by HMRC of debt collectors.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has told the Treasury and Cabinet Office that it needs to take ‘urgent action’ to develop a cross-government approach to debt management if they are to recover the £22BN debt.

Homer's Solution?

Raiding bank accounts, which is expected to raise £375M over the next four years.

Brilliant!

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"



Tuesday 15 July 2014

Gauke Promoted


David Gauke is promoted to Financial Secretary to the Treasury. #Reshuffle

Priti Patel takes his place.

However, Gauke will maintain responsibility for HMRC.



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 Sinister Ploy


HMRC has come up with rather an "interesting" wheeze wrt improving its cashflow.

HMRC wants to delay telling employees about changes in their tax codes for up to a month, which could see people paying more tax than they owe.

The delay means that people would only find out when it is too late to correct the mistake, and the money has already been deducted from their monthly salary.

Lesley Fidler, a tax director at Baker Tilly, is quoted by the Telegraph:
"When you are counting the pounds in your pay packet you don't worry that it will work itself in the long term, you are thinking 'have I got enough this month?' 

This delay does seem to be manipulated, it's a sinister sense of manipulation. People will effectively be lending to the taxman out of their salaries."
Under the proposal employees will have to wait up to 30 days to be notified of a tax code change. The regulation is currently being consulted on, but is likely to be laid before Parliament later this Summer.
A spokesman for HMRC said:
"Where this happens, the employer will still be informed immediately of any change and if a customer requests a tax code we will issue one. 

HMRC anticipates savings for the taxpayer of several millions pounds in printing and postage costs, as a result of these changes. 

HMRC is currently consulting on the proposed changes and welcomes comments on the detail. We plan to lay finalised regulations in the autumn." 
Good for HMRC's cashflow, but not for the taxpayers' though!

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.

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What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

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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"

Monday 14 July 2014

HMRC Should Check Facts First Before Unleashing The Hounds


In December 2011 I wrote the following about HMRC's contract with Experian:
"HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have signed a deal with Experian (the credit reference agency) to use its data to detect fraud and error in the tax credits and benefits systems.

The Guardian reports that a recent HMRC pilot protected more than £16M of potential losses in tax credits, and projected savings over the 12 months of the contract are around £700M.

David Gauke, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, is quoted:

"The government will not tolerate people who dishonestly divert money away from those who are genuinely entitled to it. Working with Experian will allow HMRC to escalate the fight against tax credit fraudsters, helping to ensure that they are caught and punished."

HMRC has released a number of case studies illustrating where savings have been made in the pilot. One involved a woman claiming as a single parent with four children, where a search of Experian's information on financial applications showed that she had a partner living at the same address. This led to her awards being stopped.

HMRC won't say how much Experian are earning (either from direct fees or performance fees) for this work.

The Telegraph reports that Experian will identify cheats by trawling through their household bills, credit card applications and employment records and will be paid “by results".

Let us trust that this all works out well for everyone then!

I just have two small observations:

1 The results from pilot schemes run by HMRC are not always what they appear to be.

2 Not everyone is as enamoured of Experian as HMRC are
."
Moving on a few years and a loyal reader contacted me the other day noting that, despite splitting up and physically separating from her husband some years ago, HMRC is hounding her for overpaid tax credits because its records show that he still lives with her ex.

Sadly, according to my loyal reader, despite her protestations that she is separated HMRC do not believe her.

My loyal reader's problems are not, as far as I can tell, unique. Whilst it is all very well for HMRC to use Experian and other means (eg credit cards, loyalty cards, social media etc) to try to help identify those it suspects of fraud, HMRC needs to bear in mind that these sources are not always 100% accurate.

Experian, for example, is not always up to date; people who split up do not always do so on a friendly basis and do not always update their records (eg addresses) with speed or accuracy (either because of lethargy or maliciousness).

HMRC should use these tools as an indicator of potential fraud, not as 100% "proof" of actual fraud; ie it should check the facts first before delivering judgement.

I would be interested to hear from others who have been placed in a similar situation to my loyal reader.

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"

Friday 11 July 2014

HMRC's 2020 Vision - Building Our Future


My thanks to a loyal reader, who dropped me a wee note about a series of HMRC events entitled "Building Our Future".

Seemingly staff in one of HMRC's London offices have received an email invite to one of the events, which is being held at Chelsea Football Club.

Some staff have already attended an earlier event, and the feedback is not promising. In short staff are being told by HMRC management at the events that they either accept HMRC's vision for 2020 and beyond, or basically "bugger off".

Additionally, so I understand, during the event the closure of all of HMRC's London offices is raised, in the hope and advent of a digital future.

I would be very interested to hear more about "Building Our Future", if anyone has the courage to raise their heads above the trenches.

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"

Thursday 10 July 2014

Homer Places HMRC Above The Law


The Treasury Select Committee has warned that it continues to have "considerable concern" about proposals for HMRC to be allowed to deduct money directly from tax debtors' bank accounts.

Unsurprisingly Lin Homer continues to deny that there is a problem with this proposal, and told the committee that it doesn't breach Magna Carta protections for the individual against the state.

In addition to wanting to raid bank accounts of recalcitrant tax debtors, Homer and her gang want to access bank statements going back 12 months and to freeze the accounts of those HMRC deem to be recalcitrant for 14 days whilst HMRC "check spending patterns".

Now you and I might point out to Homer and her gang that there are already laws at HMRC's disposal, that enable it to recoup money from the recalcitrant. The problem, from Homer's perspective, is that these laws require HMRC to prove (via the courts) that it has a right to extract monies owed.

In Homer's view the courts are simply too slow and expensive; ie she wants HMRC to be placed above the law!

The committee takes a dim view of Homer's desire to ride roughshod over the law, and has already warned in a recent report that the new powers would be "wholly unacceptable" without a requirement for independent approval from a court, ombudsman or tribunal before money was taken.

Homer was having none of that, she is quoted by the Guardian:
"I believe that for the taxpayer as a whole, it is right that we have sufficient powers to stop these limited numbers of people avoiding paying tax.

We are talking about 17,000 people who don't dispute the tax is due, they just don't pay. We will have written to them, we will have engaged with them and they just fold their arms and wait for us to take some other action.

Of course, we can go to court, but the cost both in time and money of going to court will often outweigh or seriously diminish the amount of tax collected. In these cases, we believe with proper safeguards... this is a fairer way of extracting the tax everybody is due to pay."
The Liberal Democrat committee member John Thurso said that HMRC was trying to become judge, jury and executioner and to remove legal protections from those who it believes owe tax, simply because it was slow and expensive to follow the legal processes.

All of this, if Homer's wish is granted, for a poxy £375M over four years!

Ironically, when quizzed about whether HMRC would pay compensation when (not "if") it made a mistake Homer said it would be up the courts to decide the amount. These being the same courts that she doesn't want to use when raiding people's bank accounts!

To grant Homer and her chums in HMRC these powers would be madness in the extreme!

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"

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Homer Apologises





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 12,500 Erroneous Penalty Letters

It seems that HMRC's flagship RTI continues to be riddled with bugs and errors.

AccountingWeb reports that HMRC has sent about 12,500 penalty letters in error to employers who had filed their payroll returns for 2013 to 2014.

HMRC have stated that nearly 10% of penalty letters sent were to employers who had filed their PAYE information for the tax year ending 5 April 2014 because its computer system didn’t recognise returns had been submitted in four situations:
  • A month 12 Full Payment Summary with zero financial values, declaring final submission for the year
  • A month 12 Employer Payment Summary (EPS) with zero financial values, whether or not declaring final submission for the year
  • A month 12 EPS claiming CIS deductions suffered
  • An “Earlier Year Update” with zero financial values
HMRC have apologised for the inconvenience caused by the penalty notices sent in error.

Sadly this form of foul up does seem to be par for the course, in May I noted that 49% of automatic late VAT submission fines were incorrect.

Coincidently in 2012 HMRC sent out around 12,000 erroneous penalty notices to people told by HMRC that they didn't need to file a self assessment form (admittedly this was not an RTI issue, but placing trust in HMRC's automated systems to send out automatic fines does appear to be misplaced).

Luckily HMRC can't take money from bank accounts, yet!

Anyhoo the fix, to resolve this problem, will seemingly be implemented by the end of August. 

HMRC state:
We are also updating all the employer records involved, and no further action is needed by employers."
Has anyone received one of these erroneous penalty letters?

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"

Monday 7 July 2014

FCO's Fruitless Payment To HMRC


On Friday I wrote that the SFO had been fined by HMRC because of non payment of VAT liabilities.

It seems that the SFO isn't the only government department that has a little trouble understanding the tax system, and paying its "fair share" (to use the meaningless phrase that the politicians have grown fond of over the last few months). Step forward the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which has been charged £820,522 in interest by HMRC for a £15M unpaid tax bill.

The Telegraph reports that the bill arose because of a dispute between HMRC and the FCO over the status of locals employed by British embassies overseas.

Under HMRC rules, crown servants are subject to UK taxes, wherever they are employed in the world, in addition to the local taxes. The only exemption is in countries where a double taxation treaty is in place.

The FCO usually pays the UK tax on behalf of its employees. However, a backlog of unpaid taxes dating back to 2008 has left it with a large interest bill, which was paid this year.
The liability relates to around 500 locally engaged employees, who are often junior and support staff in non-diplomatic roles, in 80 countries.

The interest charge is rather amusingly recorded as a “fruitless payment” in the annual accounts, “arising on the late payment of income tax over a number of years by the FCO in respect of certain members of our locally engaged staff in countries not covered by a double taxation treaty".

The Foreign Office stressed there was no overall loss to the taxpayer, with the money moving from one public body to another.

Well that's all very well, maybe, in the eyes of the civil service. However, in reality as I noted on Friday:

The net result to the taxpayer?

A loss, given that this has cost time, money and resources to resolve!

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"

Friday 4 July 2014

Irony - SFO Fined by HMRC

 
The Serious Fraud Office has had to pay more than £4M to HMRC after wrongly reclaiming value added tax on fees paid to barristers and other contractors.
 
The FT states that the SFO had to pay HMRC a fine of £564,000, and make an underlying tax repayment of £3.8M plus interest.

Ironically the SFO had to request £19M in emergency funding from the Treasury in part to help cover the tax fine.

One government department paying another government department a fine, using taxpayers' money.

The net result to the taxpayer?

A loss, given that this has cost time, money and resources to resolve!

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"

Tuesday 1 July 2014

The Charmed Circle


My thanks to a loyal reader for posting the following comment yesterday:
"Perhaps the sheeple will begin to understand why a Labour Research Department stress survey report recently showed HMRC and the DfT experience stress levels way above average?

I find it remarkable that no-one appears to have joined the dots wrt this terrible fact...

07/12/2010 Sir Gus O'D appointed a certain Links Homer as CEO at the DfT...
Coincidence, conspiracy fact, inconvenience, mistake, fate, promotion, revolving doors again?
Call it what you like but who is the current CEO of HMRC appointed some 2 years later by the same Sir Gus O'D?

Can't believe PCS failed so badly to seize this opportunity for some publicity, but then what can you expect?

What about you Ken, believe in coincidence or is it Karma?

Time for the smoke and mirrors to be replaced by reality, stress costs money, taxpayers money, which in these austere times is earned harder than ever.
Why the heck the oppressed staff are not banging on their M.P.'s doors I do not know, or is there a moratorium over HMRC because of any pending privatisation or part-privatisation of the tax system?

Who knows?
Who cares?
Why worry?
"
I would observe that the civil service, much like the City, works on a principle of "a charmed circle"; wherein it's not what you know, but who you know. Hence revolving doors are favoured and used by many (the higher up the pecking order).

As to caring about privatisation, I personally think that this would be a disaster:

- costs would skyrocket
- efficiency would fall
- taxpayers' confidentiality would be thrown out of the window (probably quite literally) etc.

As to why staff and non staff are not screaming at their MPs, I honestly don't know.

As to PCS, I suspect it believes that it too is part of the "charmed circle".

As ever, comments and views are very 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"