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chrismac1

In fairness I had an experience today which restores my faith in the tax system:

1. I rang the hotline and spoke to a person within one minute.
2. I raised a tricky issue concerning VAT on a £1m import contract.
3. The person did not know the answer, gave me her e-mail address to send her the detail.
4. Two hours later I got a written confirmation by e-mail of the VAT opinion.

Efficient, professional, courteous, helpful. Thank you for the VAT officer in Limerick, IRELAND who dealt with my issue today.

Not once in the past 2 years has anyone in HMRC dealt with me like this, or even come close. How can it be that Ireland is operating a 21st century system while the UK is still in the 19th?

The stooges will say this is off topic, and it is. But taliz, YOU are right and HMRC with their silly excuses, bills 4 or 5 years after the event, threats of bailiffs, ridiculous procedures, are in the wrong. Just like RBS with the bonus today, at some point the political pain from all of these muck-ups is going to reach a point where the Government says "Enough is enough. Time to put HMRC back in its box."

Pennywise

Yes Chris, I too have enjoyed dealing with the Jersey tax office as I had a client who moved there and then moved back to UK a couple of years later. All dealing with the Jersey tax office have been exceptional. The letters they've written have been clear, concise and easily understandable. When I've written, I've got a reply virtually by return of post. When I've telephoned, I've been put through to the right level of tax official within seconds of the first ring and the issue has been solved in a single phone call. When they issue demands/statements, they come with a proper explanation of what's happened, why it happened, etc. On one occasion, the client actually received "advice" from the tax office about how they could change their affairs to their advantage.

The HMRC is rotten from the top down. I've absolutely no doubt that the poor sods working at the coal face have a hard job, but they don't help themselves either with their jobsworth attitude often based upon not really knowing/understanding the true legal position. It needs an absolute revolution right to it's core as it's completely lost its way. Let's up that the promised retirement of Hartnett completes the clear out of the top people who have presided over it's demise and that it can rediscover itself.