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HMRC and self assessment Shangri-La

27th Jan 2016
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HMRC’s new self assessment ad campaign requires a double take when you first come across it. Sitting at the bus stop this January, you could be confronted by ads depicting an array of British workers - from chefs to construction workers to doctors - levitating, posing like a meditating Buddha.

“I filed my tax return early and reached inner peace,” says the taxpayer (or as HMRC would call it ‘customer’) in the ad. Their face locked in a trance, someone who has clearly reached self assessment Shangri-La (I’m sure many accountants would also like to find this place). 

The first question is: Just how much does this all cost? A tax authority that can barely answer a phone call perhaps needs every penny it can scrape together. We know that Workie, the DWP’s mascot/rejected Pokemon character, cost a tidy £8.5m. Commenting on Workie at the time, the Pensions minister Baroness Altmann said, “This is a fun and quirky campaign but behind it lies a serious message.”

Is it, though? From the reaction on social media, the campaign just struck people as odd. Workie’s comical campaign was repurposed into a meme pretty much immediately. The British public never got past the weirdness of Workie to the true message. These ads play to the internet’s baser instincts, easy targets for levity and, given Whitehall’s public image, verge on self-parody. 

Adding to HMRC’s newfound joie de vivre is their ‘battle of the taxes’. “New analysis shows that men win the battle of the taxes as they are more likely than women to complete their tax return on time,” said the tax authority in a statement.

Men filed 294 of every 10,000 tax returns late, beating the fairer sex by just nine tax returns per 10,000: Women submitted 303 late tax returns for every 10,000 in 2013‑14 tax year.

But again, under this veneer of whimsy, lays a more serious issue: According to HMRC’s data 18-20 year olds are filing 949 of every 10,000 returns late. Compared to 118 for over 65’s, one wonders what young people have been getting up to. Perhaps they were too busy making Workie memes on Twitter.

But more importantly, does anyone at the tax authority honestly think these ‘fun’ ideas will be enough to remediate the issue?

It might be a tenuous leap, but perhaps the younger generations tardiness is emblematic of a broader disillusionment with the tax authority. HMRC continues to sign sweetheart deals with Google, HSBC, and corporate tax avoiders - but looms large over small businesses. And lest we forget the completely inadequate service levels.

According to the data research firm Duedil, the number of under-35s starting businesses has risen by more than 70% since 2006. This is the start-up generation, and it’s disproportionately affected by HMRC’s continuing dysfunctionality.

Of course, none of this is an excuse for things like late filing. You have your duties to fulfil. But the rise of these odd marketing stunts do come across as an authority awkwardly trying to mend fences with a generation that has lost faith in it. Although it has all the nuance of a father trying to ingratiate himself with his surly teenage son by saying 'dude' a lot. 

But, hey, at least the taxman is attempting to have some fun.

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