You might also be interested in
Replies (7)
Please login or register to join the discussion.
Welcome to the world of Differentiated Agent Services or DAS which I warned about some time ago. Expect that HMRC will restrict Agents THEY believe to be not good agents based on their perception. Some agents will be fated with by HMRCs largesse whilst others will find their access to services restricted. As I have said consistently that HMRC don't really like us and are blaming us for their inability to collect taxes that actually are not due. Tony Margaritelli Chair ICPA
The sad fact is that HMRC are absolutely right to be concerned, as the general standard of agent competence at the lower end of the sole trader spectrum is apalling.
An ever-increasing number of those agents are just moonlighters - people who have another full-time job and who are slowly gathering a client base in their part-time practice. And many of them are industry accountants who do not have any practice experience, have inadequate tax training and, quite simply, do not really know what they are doing.
I would say that more than half of the clients that I pick up from such sole practitioners have serious problems with their accounts or previous tax returns, and multiplying this across the industry, HMRC are probably right to assume that significant tax losses are the result.
Of course, it is also true that occasionally the errors made are such that the client has overpaid tax, sometimes quite significantly, but it does seem that the majority of errors made by agents seem to favour the client. Perhaps not surprising given the clamour to attract clients at the bottom end of the market.
There are a lot of very moronic questions posted on this website by so-called "professionals" who are taking money from clients and "advising" despite having inadequate knowledge, training and experience. HMRC are probably right in thinking that this is the tip of the iceberg.
55% have less than 50 clients... say 40 clients at £300 each its just about minimum wage....hard to believe that.
...they must all be part time doing mates accounts in the evenings for fun/holiday money...
In other words we are looking at the qualified and unqualified accountants, and of the qualified individuals whether they are registered with their respective professional body to work in practice. This has been on the cards for a long time. In fairness I would say there are some excellent accountants qualified by experience alone, and some not so good qualified ones. I trust HMRC gets accurate information from its respective sources, and wonder how the practitioner will be able to establish it has accurate information before being cut off from access to software and income.
I am surprised at the numbers HMRC thinks are sole traders. This may be because HMRC systems do not easily accommodate small partnerships or limited companies. I suppose complaining about systems or an accountant asking HMRC what information it holds on him/her (or anything else for that matter) would be considered "raising obstacles". We will even have to be careful about comments on HMRC in public, such as this discussion!
Where did HMR&C obtain this information from?
I would want to see the data source as I do not believe anything that HMR&C exhibits!
Why oh Why don't they tackle the real problems- answer the phone , reply to letters within 2 weeks. Go after the BIG BOYS tax - or are HMR&C just to scared that they lack competence to do this so they harry the taxi driver and fish shop proprietor- its their easy objective.
Watch for wriggling about when the PAC asks them how much additional tax they received by aggressively persuing PANAMA tax evaders!
I have no objection to regulation but what worries me is HMRC ability to get things wrong.
What are the timescales for implementing this and when will your grade be made available.
Are we supposed to to start sacking clients who don't pay tax up front and on time.
Also now do HMRC which accountants "upskill" their clients simply from the tax return that gets submitted.