Author Archives: howardg

HMRC and tax avoidance

Posted on December 6, 2010 by howardg

Recent announcements from the new coalition government have emerged that expenditure of £900m is due to be spent over the next 4 years to tackle tax avoidance and evasion in the hope of raising an extra £7bn each year by … Continue reading →

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HMRC IT systems

Posted on December 5, 2010 by howardg

Recent figures in connection with self assessment tax returns have suggested that almost 30% of returns have underdeclared liabilities, 11% of which were for more than £1,000 each.

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HMRC staffing

Posted on December 3, 2010 by howardg

Recent statistics have revealed that HMRC employ something in the region of 78,000 people whereas the US Internal Revenue Service which deals with a population almost 5 times the size of the UK only employs about 100,000.

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More Errors

Posted on November 29, 2010 by howardg

According to a recent article in the Telegraph, two more areas of bungling by the taxman are coming to light which could ruin thousands of peoples Christmas.

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HMRC service standards

Posted on November 26, 2010 by howardg

A recent survey by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of its members have found a high level of concern in the accountancy profession that service standards at HMRC are severely in decline.

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A car for filing your tax return – you cannot be serious!

Posted on November 23, 2010 by howardg

HMRC are still very concerned about the tendency of many tax payers to file their tax return at the last minute.

Posted in HMRC, Tax Returns, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Combating child benefit changes

Posted on November 15, 2010 by howardg

Well it probably only took about 10 minutes, but accountants have already worked out numerous ways that higher rate tax payers can avoid the new child benefit rules and still receive the money.

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HMRC encourage online filing

Posted on November 12, 2010 by howardg

HMRC have been writing to accountants and other agents who file on behalf of clients to encourage online filing of self assessment tax returns.  In particular, they have been targeting those who still file paper tax returns. In their communication, … Continue reading →

Posted in HMRC, Tax Returns | Tagged | 1 Comment

HMRC Turnaround Times

Posted on November 11, 2010 by howardg

We know that HMRC are under pressure and in fact are under fire from every direction.  It is therefore quite interesting that they have announced turnaround times from 1 November for dealing with certain documents including  8 weeks for self … Continue reading →

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Tax Return turnaround times

Posted on November 10, 2010 by howardg

With more than 25 years experience in the accountancy profession, we know more than most the reality of dealing with hundreds and hundreds of tax returns.  People deliver their papers by post or in boxes and then some weeks or … Continue reading →

Posted in HMRC, Tax Returns | 2 Comments