MPs warned: “Tax gap set to widen”
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Really?
"HMRC is made up of world-class tax professionals"
*raises eyebrows*
It is however crazy to be making cuts to compliance visits.
The fear of getting caught is the only thing to keep people honest under self assessment, especially with the very high rates of tax now in play for higher earners.
So morals, integrity, and professionalism...
... have no part to play in "keep[ing] people honest under self assessment, especially with the very high rates of tax now in play for higher earners"?
What a sad state of affairs.
Start by sacking the bosses
HMRC bosses are simply fighting to retain their little empire. It reminds me of the sketch from Yes Minister when Sir Humphrey says that the importance of a department (and therefore its bosses) is measured by the size of its budget, not by its efficiency.
If compliance was more focussed, with a heavy slant towards large scale tax avoidance, then these cuts would lose little if any revenue. Unfortunately, HMRC still tend to go after the little guy who cant fight back, whilst letting the big fish get away with murder as usual.
Here we go again
The usual scaremongering in an attempt to maintain the deadbeats in their final salary pensioned bliss. Notice also the blatant use of "avoidance = evasion" mantra.
Scum!
Invest for Value
"HMRC is made up of world-class tax professionals". The hits just keep on coming. As Frank Carson used to say "its the way you tell em".
The Government should invest money in HMRC and resource it properly. The additional tax revenue they would take would far more than exceed the investment cost. Isn't this common sense and how most of our clients would approach running a business? Really the Government's appraoch is a classic case of focussing on cost and not undertstanding value.
Invest for Value
"HMRC is made up of world-class tax professionals". The hits just keep on coming. As Frank Carson used to say "its the way you tell em".
The Government should invest money in HMRC and resource it properly. The additional tax revenue they would take would far more than exceed the investment cost. Isn't this common sense and how most of our clients would approach running a business? Really the Government's appraoch is a classic case of focussing on cost and not undertstanding value.
guilty of tax avoidance
since when was obeying the law something that entailed 'guilt' .
The continued obfuscation of evasion and avoidance merely makes them less trusted [is this possible?] and look both foolish and vindictive.
HMRC does not "generate revenues for the Government" - the taxpayer does that - HMRC's job is merely to collect them, according to the requirements of statute, as modified by Parliament and the Judiciary, nothing more.
Pareto
They should also look at where the greatest fraction of revenue can be raised with the least effort.
Note I am using terms comparatively, so "least effort" should not be taken to indicate laziness !
prioritise and prosecute those guilty of tax avoidance
I would dearly love to know how and under what legal precedent they can prosecute people for tax avoidance. For the benefit of the thickos at HMRC, tax avoidance is NOT a prosecutable offence. If it is, then absolutely everybody in the country is guilty of it. ****s!