HMRC’s poor service requires action, not moaning
Instead of just complaining about how HMRC’s poor service levels are affecting the accountancy and bookkeeping profession, Claire Bartlett decided the time has come to speak out together to make things change.
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I admire the optimism, but there does not seem to be any proof that any of the avenues you suggest are any more effective.
For example, the governing bodies have only recently said anything about MTD when accountants have been complaining about it publicly for years. Or how about this from the last report of the Administrative Burdens Advisory Board
We remain firmly of the view that digitalisation can improve tax administration both for HMRC and for taxpayers. Digital technology can help businesses to operate more efficiently, helping to drive productivity and growth.
With their "five areas of particular concern" all being related to supporting businesses to cope with the changes from MTD, not addressing whether MTD as planned is a good idea.
If you are going to get accountants to spend time taking action, we need some reassurance it won't be energy wasted shouting into the void.
I agree, it's very hard to understand why the ICAEW didn't come out with their criticisms until recently, and that was only after HMRC finally gave way on the £10k level, and postponed MTD for a couple more years. If they didn't engage, how can we do anything
It can be quite hard not to sound like Eeyore when passing comment on this, but ... all the points & suggestions are both obvious and good, which is why they crop up every 10 years or so!
The difference each time lies not with the good intentions of practitioners (or indeed the quality of their input) ... it is the degraded seriousness with which the upper echelons of HMRC accept (or not) the needs & benefits of engaging in the process.
20 years ago ... I could volunteer to take part in a variety of forums (some talking shops + some hands-on / some pre-legislative policy + some post 'live' guidance reviews / some sector specific + some focussed on an area of tax returns / etc).
Both 'sides' treated each other with respect, and HMRC fielded permanent teams whose purpose was to assist with processing the objectives & findings ... often with exactly the kind of 'wins' for all that the article above envisages (whether a single data item, a whole new submission process/form, or the introduction of phasing to implementation with scheduled review points, and so on).
10 years ago ... HMRC started removing support (and resources) - first from involvement with these 3rd-party groups and then from their own specialist groups - giving us all the first indications of what we now experience daily (no named contacts + impossibility of exchanging communications quickly or even raising generic questions of importance).
This coincided with some senior changes and a (presumably) quite deliberate change in culture ... best summed up by the "admit nothing, claim everything is BAU, if necessary deny/lose anything that looks like evidence" that I overheard in a canteen at 100 Parliament St.
Now (still hiding behind Covid) ... no longer any pretence that 'customers' (in any guise) deserve to be heard or even acknowledged. Co-operative groups, gone. OTS, gone. In-house support groups, going. PAC, ignored. Rogue state, established (but directionless). Heaven help us all ...
We put 10 positive, constructive suggestions forward through our MP who is undersec. for enterprise. The reply from Victoria Atkins arrived within 10 minutes of and was almost word for word the press release which appeared in Taxation magazine last week. We doubt our email had even been read, let alone considered. The first huge task is finding a way to even make them listen. We despair of them taking any notice of anything, the course is set and HMRC will not change course until contact is made with an iceberg which will come in the form of total meltdown of one or more of their basic functions.
That said, we are still willing to join any effort to save the country from the total incompetence of HMRC under its current leadership.
Its sounds like you are trying to resurrect "Working Together" the now long abandoned channel HMRC had this exact purpose of identifying issues and solving them for mutual benefit.
The only remnant of which I think is the agents forum which I am sure you know is an absolute joke.
I am afraid much as I admire your attempts here, without two way listening, and more importantly a will to action your attempts to improve matters all your efforts will be wasted.
Really the only tools available are direct involvement in surveys and consultations, plus lobbying your professional body. Of course what the professional bodies say is largely ignored too. MP's contact just gets you a "cut'n'paste" fob off letter. its really only useful on a popular issues so MP's can feel the 'weight of feeling'. I have only ever had one genuinely useful contact with an MP, and that was because they agreed with me.
I have been working with a UK based Film Producer who is entitled to receive the Film Industry Credit. Both him and myself are aware of what is needed to claim this but not HOW. Despite numerous emails and phone calls to HMRC we are no further forward. Answers to phone queries have included:
"Never heard of it"
"Write in about it"
But best response so far "call Citizens Advice, they deal with benefit credits"
I also sent details of a change of address for my partners company. We receieved to letters both dated on the same day, one said the change of address had been denied and the other said the address had been changed. Both letters were sent to the new address
Absolutely no excuse for HMRC, but if you really *need* to find out more about how to make the claim then this lot offer an on-line tutorial (for £40) ... https://www.screenskills.com/bookings/how-to-claim-the-uk-film-tax-credi...
... and, No, I have nothing to do with them.
I have been working with a UK based Film Producer who is entitled to receive the Film Industry Credit. Both him and myself are aware of what is needed to claim this but not HOW. Despite numerous emails and phone calls to HMRC we are no further forward. Answers to phone queries have included:
"Never heard of it"
"Write in about it"
But best response so far "call Citizens Advice, they deal with benefit credits"
I also sent details of a change of address for my partners company. We received to letters both dated on the same day, one said the change of address had been denied and the other said the address had been changed. Both letters were sent to the new address
Had similar when trying to deal with an issue relating to Plastic Packaging Tax, several calls and nobody had even heard of this "new" tax, which has been around for over 18 months now.
If you're still stuck on this problem I have a decent background in this area and would be glad to help you - if you fire me a PM I can talk you through the process
I don't want to repeat what has been said in the excellent replies so far, so all I'm going to say is that I agree with them and they are spot on. Your article summarises the problem and the effect on the economy very well, but no one is listening at HMRC or in Government.
I'm not moaning but I am.
Amazing how people now think they can say things that are completely at odds with the truth and that people somehow will swallow it. Noting of course that many have, such is the level tolerance to 'spin' in our society.
So well done Claire for (not?) moaning. We all know HMRC service levels are appalling and we all know it won't change any time soon. Almost not worth moaning about is it ......
Claire, you have asked for feedback with positive ideas for positive change at HMRC.
Quite simply , bring in accountability and get rid of the incumbent CEO for starters. Under Harra's reign, standards are worsening by the day.
This sort of tenure works well at the Vatican. But it certainly ain't at 100 Parliament St.
In days of yore when villeins were being oppressed they banded together and protested, tended to not end well for their leaders but was a reasonable way of clearing the air and in the longer term changes did slowly happen; perhaps accountants and their clients need pitchforks to make HMG listen.
(One of) The problem with government is that it no longer understands the world it exists in. And I suppose arguably it never really did!
It doesn't need a workshop or a committee to work out that the tax rules are far too complex, and that HMRC likes playing with the complexity as much as the next person. So the first step should be to simplify the rules, which would be easily done by scrapping many of the individual taxes, and accepting that ultimately people pay all the taxes. Once this is done then collecting the stuff becomes a whole lot simpler, and so the second step would be to scrap HMRC and replace it with a privatised gubbins open to competition.
Personally I would also take away the government's credit card. Government Borrowing is more than just immoral. It is an open ended liability on tomorrow's taxpayer, and divorces government from the financial pain of its outlandish policies.