I have a client who has just received a letter from a firm of accountants stuffed full of qualifieds informing him that he has likely overpaid SDLT on the purchase of his new home. It was addressed to the occupant. I hardly think that is a good advert for the profession where a statement can be made without any evidence whatsoever implying that other professionals have been deficient in their duty. By the way I checked and they were wrong, or have they got some magic scheme that goes back and alters circumstances to allow for a bit of a dodgy avoidance setup.
Might I just point out that a bigger gain if Raab becomes Premier will that in the rush to prorogue Parliament he might omit to renew the taxing ability of the Exchequer and that we could all end up with a nil rate band in its entirety.
Is it me or is the article missing something at the end?
Regarding HMRC's position I find it difficult to understand why they thought that a business didn't exist. Did they try to understand what happened to the business post sale. If it continued to exist, as implied, then they were entitled to profits, were entitled to grow the practice by employing other surgeons and advertising their services etc, so the facts would show something changed hands i.e. a business. Not surprised they lost.
Is it me or are we being inundated with acronyms? HR, HMRC, BPT, RTI, EYU, FPS, YTD and lastly but not least PAYE. I know that it is more efficient in fast communication, but what happens when two or more of them clash? As an example FSB could mean the Financial Stability Board, Federation of Small Businesses or the Russian Secret Service. I see a new smart phone app coming along
I take issue with the final statement. Not with its sentiments but with its tense. I think Brexit and the election of Trump are two signs that it has already arrived. And with its arrival has come an indication that new technologies bring huge dangers of which the latest incursion into the online database of Marriott is just one sign. New skills are needed and training by companies of their staff is abysmally deficient. If they are to survive and prosper, companies need to address that deficiency with an urgency that is sadly lacking at present.
Has The Office for Tax Simplification any comment to make, given that not even the experts appear to be able to arrive at a consensus so far? Pity the poor taxpayer who is expected to make sense of what should be a very basic understanding of the position. Perhaps a little understanding of taxpayer behaviour under stress might go some way to improve the behaviour of those who come up with such convoluted systems and rules. Or is it now part of government policy to inflict excess punishment in order to swell treasury coffers. Which ever way, the idea that penalties once incurred can be counter productive to compliance seems to have disappeared from the radar. Why is excessive punishment now seen as an acceptable way to bring miscreants back into the fold?
I am currently studying change management as part of my post graduate degree. Looking at the introduction of MTD from that point of view I would be inclined to mark it as -5 on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 was excellent. The HoL is correct in their assessment of the situation. Whether MTD is desirable or not is beside the point. This is about whether HMRC will be successful in implementing it or not. So far the indications are that they will not. To introduce it at a time of intense uncertainty, as is existing over Brexit is total madness. About time the government grew up and understood their role in behaving responsibly by postponing the introduction to a more favourable time. They should also consider quality as a function of their decision making process.
Whilst I find nothing to argue with in the article I do wonder why the bank reconciliations failed to spot the obvious. It was a core process when I was in commerce and in audit, both internal and external. I always asked the banks what accounts existed and what the balances on them were. I never assumed that the cash books were right. There have been some pretty massive failures in internal controls and I seriously question what sort of management styles pervaded.
Not too sure why the 51% majority point was brought in. But, would say that the 49% have a choice if they don't like the decision. They can just sell and look for other opportunities, for which there are many in the stock market. They have a choice unlike other circumstances where there is either no choice or the alternative choice is life changing. MTD being such a circumstance.
The one thing I have learnt from MTD is how bad the software out there is and how expensive it is. Correcting client errors in manual systems is a piece of cake compared to trying to correct them in online systems. And that is without system failures, such as access to the software going down, the internet connection dropping speed or disappearing altogether. Plus making entries is so slow and in many cases far to convoluted a process to be described as being even remotely more efficient. Obviously I am not a fan, but I have been taking it seriously for quite a few months and have found my clients biggest bugbear is the cost for something they don't particularly want.
My answers
I have a client who has just received a letter from a firm of accountants stuffed full of qualifieds informing him that he has likely overpaid SDLT on the purchase of his new home. It was addressed to the occupant. I hardly think that is a good advert for the profession where a statement can be made without any evidence whatsoever implying that other professionals have been deficient in their duty. By the way I checked and they were wrong, or have they got some magic scheme that goes back and alters circumstances to allow for a bit of a dodgy avoidance setup.
Might I just point out that a bigger gain if Raab becomes Premier will that in the rush to prorogue Parliament he might omit to renew the taxing ability of the Exchequer and that we could all end up with a nil rate band in its entirety.
Is it me or is the article missing something at the end?
Regarding HMRC's position I find it difficult to understand why they thought that a business didn't exist. Did they try to understand what happened to the business post sale. If it continued to exist, as implied, then they were entitled to profits, were entitled to grow the practice by employing other surgeons and advertising their services etc, so the facts would show something changed hands i.e. a business. Not surprised they lost.
Is it me or are we being inundated with acronyms? HR, HMRC, BPT, RTI, EYU, FPS, YTD and lastly but not least PAYE. I know that it is more efficient in fast communication, but what happens when two or more of them clash? As an example FSB could mean the Financial Stability Board, Federation of Small Businesses or the Russian Secret Service. I see a new smart phone app coming along
I take issue with the final statement. Not with its sentiments but with its tense. I think Brexit and the election of Trump are two signs that it has already arrived. And with its arrival has come an indication that new technologies bring huge dangers of which the latest incursion into the online database of Marriott is just one sign. New skills are needed and training by companies of their staff is abysmally deficient. If they are to survive and prosper, companies need to address that deficiency with an urgency that is sadly lacking at present.
Has The Office for Tax Simplification any comment to make, given that not even the experts appear to be able to arrive at a consensus so far? Pity the poor taxpayer who is expected to make sense of what should be a very basic understanding of the position. Perhaps a little understanding of taxpayer behaviour under stress might go some way to improve the behaviour of those who come up with such convoluted systems and rules. Or is it now part of government policy to inflict excess punishment in order to swell treasury coffers. Which ever way, the idea that penalties once incurred can be counter productive to compliance seems to have disappeared from the radar. Why is excessive punishment now seen as an acceptable way to bring miscreants back into the fold?
I am currently studying change management as part of my post graduate degree. Looking at the introduction of MTD from that point of view I would be inclined to mark it as -5 on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 was excellent. The HoL is correct in their assessment of the situation. Whether MTD is desirable or not is beside the point. This is about whether HMRC will be successful in implementing it or not. So far the indications are that they will not. To introduce it at a time of intense uncertainty, as is existing over Brexit is total madness. About time the government grew up and understood their role in behaving responsibly by postponing the introduction to a more favourable time. They should also consider quality as a function of their decision making process.
Whilst I find nothing to argue with in the article I do wonder why the bank reconciliations failed to spot the obvious. It was a core process when I was in commerce and in audit, both internal and external. I always asked the banks what accounts existed and what the balances on them were. I never assumed that the cash books were right. There have been some pretty massive failures in internal controls and I seriously question what sort of management styles pervaded.
Not too sure why the 51% majority point was brought in. But, would say that the 49% have a choice if they don't like the decision. They can just sell and look for other opportunities, for which there are many in the stock market. They have a choice unlike other circumstances where there is either no choice or the alternative choice is life changing. MTD being such a circumstance.
The one thing I have learnt from MTD is how bad the software out there is and how expensive it is. Correcting client errors in manual systems is a piece of cake compared to trying to correct them in online systems. And that is without system failures, such as access to the software going down, the internet connection dropping speed or disappearing altogether. Plus making entries is so slow and in many cases far to convoluted a process to be described as being even remotely more efficient. Obviously I am not a fan, but I have been taking it seriously for quite a few months and have found my clients biggest bugbear is the cost for something they don't particularly want.