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AIA

"Tell them anything"

by
30th Nov 2009
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I had a possible new client ring me this week. Not unusually, he is in a state of some confusion, partly because his affairs are slightly complicated, but mostly because he has tried to seek advice from HMRC.

He is a US citizen, though he has been in the UK for nearly 40 years, beginning with 28 years in the USAF in Suffolk and then 8 years working here for the US government. Following an injury, he has not worked for the last four years : he has had some investment income including an account in Jersey (now paying 0.1%, so not exactly the best deal around). He has not remitted anything from this account so has paid no tax on the interest. He is not wholly unfamiliar with tax : during his military service he worked as a tax volunteer helping people complete their US returns.

He went to his bank to ask about it and they told him he should be completing a UK tax return for this income. He has never completed a UK return, though he has continued to file US tax returns.

He was worried about this, so rang HMRC’s contact centre who said no, he didn’t need to. Unsure, he rang again, and was told he should – or perhaps he should phone the New Disclosure helpline. He phoned them and was told there was no need to register with them (probably because the figures were very small) but that he ought to complete a return. He rang the local line again and they agreed to issue a tax return : and he subsequently received one from Leicester (which is not local but was his last PAYE district).

I haven’t seen him yet, so I don’t know the answer for certain (he is now getting US Social Security payments as well).

Now of course he is non-domiciled, so the rules have changed, but the point here is not that he was given wrong advice, but that he was given different advice from different HMRC officers. And, really to the point, it is quite clear that his slightly complicated case was beyond the knowledge and experience of those officers, but they attempted to answer the question anyway. It is very likely that it would have been beyond anyone based in a call centre, because questions of residence and domicile are referred to specialist teams.

This matters. It is not one of those arcane arguments about powers or rights that will affect a few people, it simply seems symptomatic of the failure of the call centre model to meet the needs of the ordinary – unadvised – taxpayer. However hard HMRC work, they need to find a way to solve this one.
 

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By User deleted
01st Dec 2009 09:27

complicated affairs? in my experience HMRC quite often can't han

....... calling a CT office directly yesterday the person on the front line answering the phone had to refer on my query concerning the filing deadline for a CT return !!! (My query being that HMRC had incorrectly raised a penalty.) It wasn't a difficult question, relating only to the administration of tax and nothing technical.

I have another call to make about another client who keeps getting threatening letters about his tax debt when he is on a time to pay arrangement. I was told the last time I contacted HMRC that future chasing letters would be suppressed. 

I have lost the will to live when contacting HMRC. It takes up inordinate amounts of time and quite often you get bounced around call centres and offices without getting answers to your queries or even as you say several different answers! 

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By Trevor Scott
01st Dec 2009 16:23

Specifically...

... I think he will find that the RAF Lakenheath's legal dept will be the best "base" to "touch down" in order to find a resolution, even in respect of sorting queries regarding service personnel who have stayed on in the UK.

Addition, they now have a special tax dept. 

Contact details[email protected]

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By User deleted
04th Dec 2009 11:32

Here we go again...

With all your Revenue bashing I'm amazed you have time to fit in any new clients let alone all the walking anecdotes you seem to meet.

I'm sure someone with your talents would be much better employed by HMRC to sort out what is clearly a dysfunctional organisation.

 

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By BBB
04th Dec 2009 12:08

Anonymous, that doesn't make sense

If the author is a talented and experienced ex-tax inspector why would HMRC wish to re-employ him?  Those are the very people that the modern Revenue sees as the problem.

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