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HMRC deputy starts blog for tax advisers

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31st Dec 2013
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HMRC's deputy director, Jenny Cowles, has started a blog to improve communication and relations with tax advisers.

She said she wanted to tell tax agents some "interesting and helpful snippets".

Her blog, part of a move towards doing more tax services online, will include joint HMRC and agent consultative meetings, Tax Agent Strategy and "improvements to service delivery through joint working".

"This is a completely new channel for HMRC, so please bear with us," Cowles blogged. "But my first question is: what do you want to hear about from us?"

There were two comments about her blog: One about RTI, while the other was sceptical about the blog's usefulness for tax advisers. "I receive HMRC News by RSS feed on a very regular basis plus releases from the professional bodies. If your blog is going to add something to the equation I will be happy to hear from you, otherwise not. I will, however, be interested to know what you have in mind."

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Replies (5)

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Adrian Pearson
By Adrian Pearson
31st Dec 2013 11:07

Two-way communication?

Most blogs have comments enabled. Will this be the case here?

If so, it could get feisty!

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By Moonbeam
02nd Jan 2014 11:49

What Are You Doing to Improve Things We're Unhappy About?

If anyone at HMRC bothers to read the many angry postings on AWEb about HMRC's shortcomings, it should be easy for them to compile a shortlist, some items of which would be quite easy to sort out.

If Jenny doesn't understand that we are tired of being told things as if we are naughty children and our clients are exhausted with being refused refunds of overpaid PAYE from their payrolls then any such blog is a complete waste of her time.

I very much doubt that Jenny can influence the really senior fools that run HMRC. They are probably sitting back, nursing their honours and thinking how wonderful they are.

I would be delighted to be proved wrong.

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By mikefleming3028
02nd Jan 2014 16:18

Definitions

I have just spent nearly two hours reading Sch 15 FA 2003 on SDLT and partnerships as "explained" by HMRC manual, no surprise that answer not contained in HMRC publication. Next step was to try and contact Birmingham Stamp Office, no telephone number published and even though I eventually got to speak to an officer as soon as I mentioned the word partnership he was keen  enough to point out that this was a specialist area and he was not trained on the topic and invited me to write in with my query. I was given to understand that HMRC has only a few officers trained on the subject and lord forbid that anyone should interrupt their day and ask them to do what they are being paid to do ie no telephone number published as this would be too simple a solution to the problem. All in all a very frustrating afternoon at the end of which I have discovered a new definition of the word "Oxymoron"  --

A HMRC help line.

If Jenny reads this then I hope she will take on board not just my frustration  but the frustration of everyone caught up in HMRC`s current merry- go- round that that passes for customer care.

Is this an  "interesting and helpful snippet" to be acted on or are we all just wasting our time in participating in yet another  HMRC initiative that will serve no purpose what so ever?   

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By carroccio1958
06th Jan 2014 14:24

WIKIPEDIA -- OXYMORON
WHILST THERE ARE MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF THIS WORD SOME FIGURATIVE OTHERS ABSTRACT THE GENERALLY MOST POPULAR AND COLLEGIALLY ACCEPTED MEANING IS OF A PERSON OF MORONIC DISPOSITION WITH A PARTIALITY TO DRINKING OXO .

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By johnjenkins
06th Jan 2014 16:11

Can we assume

that this blog will replace "agent strategy" and "working together"

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