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HMRC doing well, says HMRC survey

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13th Dec 2014
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HMRC is generally efficient and good at explaining its work but it needs to be quicker at dealing with questions, an HMRC survey of companies, MPs and journalists found.

Overall the 100-plus people interviewed for the HMRC 2014 stakeholder survey  said it was doing fairly well - for example, rating its performance in collecting revenues highly, and comparing it favourably with overseas counterparts.

But MPs were more critical than business of HMRC’s performance as a tax authority.

MPs’ main concerns were based on HMRC’s perceived poor customer service (particularly in answering constituents’ queries) and a perception that it is not doing enough to target tax avoiders.

While stakeholders were generally positive about HMRC’s ability to collect taxes they said it should do more to help the “honest majority” get their tax right. There was also scepticism about whether HMRC treats all taxpayers even-handedly.

Almost all of those surveyed said they were satisfied with HMRC’s courtesy and friendliness, the survey found. Staff are generally seen as competent and professional, according to the survey.

But a “significant minority” of stakeholders were dissatisfied with how HMRC staff “take responsibility” for finding answers and solutions, and the number of different staff members or departments they have to speak to, to get answers.

HMRC says the survey is an effort to improve its reputation and performance.

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Replies (10)

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John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
15th Dec 2014 10:12

That's not the way I see it

As one of the 100 people interviewed for this survey, I can't say that I'm impressed with the six-page report. I probably said as many words in the 30min interview as ended up in the final document.

I feel that what I told the interviewer was frank, but fair - but apart from the comment about wishing the press office responded quicker to press queries, very little of what I said was reflected in the report.

I share the frustration with AccountingWEB members about the constant use of the term "customers" from a civil service department and will happily go on at some length about what true customer service means. First on that list would be to do good customer research and act on the findings. The warmly complacent message of this year's study does not reflect my advice on that score.

When commercial organisations screw up, the good ones tend to confront the issue quickly and take control of the debate by providing information quickly and honestly. Having been through many data protection and RTI data dramas with HMRC, that would not be how I would characterise their response.

We do work with the HMRC press office a lot on AccountingWEB, and the impression I get is that a lot of them are trying to do a good job, but are hampered by the ultra-defensive, not particularly efficient and occasionally self-deluding internal communication culture. 

This report tends to confirm that impression. I would very much like to see a bit more detail about the responses - for example specific areas mentioned by significant numbers of stakeholders. But there's so little detail available that what we have here is a bland and pointless PR exercise rather than a meaningful document to stimulate improvement. 

 

Thanks (3)
Derek French
By derek44
15th Dec 2014 12:16

'Customers'?

Irrespective of how the survey comes out, I also object to the term 'Customers'. This implies I have a choice of taking my custom elsewhere, when in fact HMRC is a state tax-collecting monopoly, and I am a taxpayer. I suppose if a private firm also offered a tax collecting service I could then choose which one to use. But as of now, a taxpayer I am, not a customer!

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
15th Dec 2014 12:37

Insignificant sample

Thank you for your behind the scenes comments on this report John. I wish I could say I was surprised by them.

The sample size is woefully inadequate given the size of HMRC's "customer" base. They don't even identify who has actually been spoken to anyway, so the possibility of them selecting people they know favour HMRC appears quite high. (Clearly not the case for all, as demonstrated by John Stokdyk's comments above, but a distinct possibility)

The failure to even publish the interview questions also gives us no way of evaluating if these were written to draw out certain desired conclusions. As John has already said, any individual interview is going to have been much longer than the report itself. You'd expect more detailed results, even with the small sample size.

A pointless exercise that is actually going to sour relationships with accountants by its overly rosy conclusions in stark contrast to our experiences.

 

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Jennifer Adams
By Jennifer Adams
15th Dec 2014 12:58

My blog of 24 Oct was specifically on 'customers' cf John Lewis

https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/blog-post/hmrc-aspiring-be-john-lewis

...as the blog says - its our own fault - 

'when the accounting fraternity were asked to sign a petition calling for HMRC to no longer use the word only 1,000 signed up when it needs 100,000 before a review is made'.

Stepurhan is so right about the 'inadequate' numbers and most importantly, this survey report could lead to complacency within HMRC and their powers that be.

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By Democratus
15th Dec 2014 17:07

Surveys that are publically reported are often...

Surveys that are publically reported are often favourable to any enterprise, or should I say, what is publically reported from surveys tends to be favourable. Unless the whole statistical backup is made available, especially to the sceptical journalistic profession (John - you know who that is) and the numerate accountancy / tax profession then we are wholly entitled to suppose that this is a smug, self satisfying exercise, with cherry picked data, selective analysis of the more positive aspects and a liberal application of PR.

Nothing in my experience as a customer, taxpayer or unpaid collector on behalf of HMRC would lead me to conclude that HMRC were doing fairly well.  The recent Which article on HMRC helplines is much more in line with the everyday experience of "customers".

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Small Dog's RAT Return
By Oldmanwetmix
17th Dec 2014 12:20

Is Seph Blatter helping HMRC

Apart from the corruption as I don't think anyone at HMRC is taking bribes, I get that deja vu feeling - FIFA?

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Chris M
By mr. mischief
17th Dec 2014 19:40

2 out of 10

I've been suveyed three times in the past 5 years by HMRC.  I have given them 3, 2 and 2 out of 10.

Where is that in your report, HMRC?

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avatar
By Vaughan Blake1
18th Dec 2014 10:20

"Compared favorably to its overseas counterparts"

How was this conclusion reached?  Which overseas countries were included and was the evidence anything more than anecdotal? And basically , so what?

 

 

 

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Chris M
By mr. mischief
18th Dec 2014 14:34

Not Ireland!

I had dealings with the Revenue Service of Ireland 2 years back for a client.  The VAT at stake was £250k and I was looking to get an opinion on the VAT status of a product sourced in eithr USA or Turkey and shipped direct to Cork by a UK based company.

I rang the helpline.  There was no daft menu system, I was speaking to a real person within a minute.  I raised this complex issue with her.  She said this was above her pay grade and told me I would be called back.

Within one hour I was called back.  The person understood my issue and asked me to e-mail her the details.  I did this.  One day later I had a VAT opinion from the Revenue Service of Ireland on their letterhead by e-mail, one I could rely on if the mooted import of goods took place.

Can ANYONE - anyone at all - on this site give me one - just ONE - instance in the past five years - let's be generous and make it TEN years - when HMRC service has even come CLOSE to this?

I can honestly say that in the past 5 years, when I have dealt with HMRC on more or less every tax for 125 clients including 55 limited companies and nearly 40 employers that I have no such instances.

Quite the reverse in fact.  See my other post of today for the typically dismal response from HMRC on one of their muck-ups.

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By Democratus
18th Dec 2014 17:02

quote=Vaughan Blake1]

How was this conclusion reached?  Which overseas countries were included and was the evidence anything more than anecdotal? And basically , so what?

[/quote]

So what indeed. Being less tortuous than other famous torturers is hardly a ringing endorsement.

 

I agree with Mr Mischief- Irelands is an examplar to others as to what can be done with a bit of radical thinking.

 

But what really gets my goat is that they never seem to recognise that they are p***ing off more and more professionals whilst patting themselves on the back for a job well done; for example from AWEB- http://twitter.com/MTBracken/status/544867579601629184/photo/1

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