Chap in our office tried calling yesterday, to be met with a message saying how busy the department is and to write to them, and cut off with the lovely £Goodbye".
Does that count as a call answered? I hope not.
The lack of training and consistency when you do get through only adds to their problems. How many times have you gotten nowhere with 1 operator, only to put the phone down, call again, then get things dealt with no problem.
I go for a 3 strikes approach to calling now. If I get 3 operators in a row telling me they can't do what I'm asking then fine. Rarely need to use more than 2 strikes though.
Maybe I'm in a minority, but I've worked on quite a few care providers (nursing homes, home care, agencies), and I've yet to see one that isn't making a very tidy profit, whilst most of their workers toil on NMW.
I'm sure they can afford to pay their employees the meager amount that is the NMW for ALL the work they do. It shouldn't eat into their profits too much.
The return was an excluded case, so I submitted it on paper, along with a letter explaining it was an excluded case, and including the reasonable excuse claim form. That ought to do it I thought.
Come back in January to a late filing penalty. I call HMRC, confident all they'll have to do is check their system for my letter and form and that'll be that (naive fool that I am).
No, as a penalty had been issued, I had to write in and appeal, and to top it off, it was my fault that HMRC had to do it this way.
According to the call centre operative, it was my fault anyway as I sent other documents along with the return, and apparently that's not how the HMRC mail room works. If you send other documents then these can't be actioned separately, apparently...
I suggested that if the return came with another document, then perhaps that other document could be scanned along with the return, or at least separately so it could also be dealt with, but he seemed to think this a foolish idea and that sending separate letters for each thing you wanted HMRC to deal with was the only reasonable way to proceed. I'd have thought he was winding me up but he was so adamant that what they were doing was correct.
I'm currently looking at this for a couple of clients who have had EBTs in the past and am trying to estimate what the potential settlement figures might be.
You mention in your article that " if the taxpayer wants to avoid future DR charges, it will be necessary to pay the tax, employee and employer NICs by way of voluntary restitution".
The issue I have is the employing company is in liquidation, and so won't be in a position to pay any settlement - in one case the individual was a director/shareholder, in another they were merely an employee with no other connection to the business.
I'm aware that HMRC can look to pursue the employee in these cases (and in fact there is a consultation ongoing where they are looking to strengthen their powers around this).
Is it likely that an employee looking to settle things, pre-April 2019, would have to make a voluntary payment of the employer's NIC?
My answers
A resounding no has to be the answer I'm afraid.
What gets counted as an answered call?
Chap in our office tried calling yesterday, to be met with a message saying how busy the department is and to write to them, and cut off with the lovely £Goodbye".
Does that count as a call answered? I hope not.
The lack of training and consistency when you do get through only adds to their problems. How many times have you gotten nowhere with 1 operator, only to put the phone down, call again, then get things dealt with no problem.
I go for a 3 strikes approach to calling now. If I get 3 operators in a row telling me they can't do what I'm asking then fine. Rarely need to use more than 2 strikes though.
I agree that the article is drivel, but is it not a bit much to dissolve him for it?
Kermit
Maybe I'm in a minority, but I've worked on quite a few care providers (nursing homes, home care, agencies), and I've yet to see one that isn't making a very tidy profit, whilst most of their workers toil on NMW.
I'm sure they can afford to pay their employees the meager amount that is the NMW for ALL the work they do. It shouldn't eat into their profits too much.
At least they only lost £1.75.
Imagine it was that much in millions. Then you'd have a problem.
I had this as well just before Christmas.
The return was an excluded case, so I submitted it on paper, along with a letter explaining it was an excluded case, and including the reasonable excuse claim form. That ought to do it I thought.
Come back in January to a late filing penalty. I call HMRC, confident all they'll have to do is check their system for my letter and form and that'll be that (naive fool that I am).
No, as a penalty had been issued, I had to write in and appeal, and to top it off, it was my fault that HMRC had to do it this way.
According to the call centre operative, it was my fault anyway as I sent other documents along with the return, and apparently that's not how the HMRC mail room works. If you send other documents then these can't be actioned separately, apparently...
I suggested that if the return came with another document, then perhaps that other document could be scanned along with the return, or at least separately so it could also be dealt with, but he seemed to think this a foolish idea and that sending separate letters for each thing you wanted HMRC to deal with was the only reasonable way to proceed. I'd have thought he was winding me up but he was so adamant that what they were doing was correct.
Hi Andrew
I'm currently looking at this for a couple of clients who have had EBTs in the past and am trying to estimate what the potential settlement figures might be.
You mention in your article that " if the taxpayer wants to avoid future DR charges, it will be necessary to pay the tax, employee and employer NICs by way of voluntary restitution".
The issue I have is the employing company is in liquidation, and so won't be in a position to pay any settlement - in one case the individual was a director/shareholder, in another they were merely an employee with no other connection to the business.
I'm aware that HMRC can look to pursue the employee in these cases (and in fact there is a consultation ongoing where they are looking to strengthen their powers around this).
Is it likely that an employee looking to settle things, pre-April 2019, would have to make a voluntary payment of the employer's NIC?