What improvements would you like to see from HMRC

antonic

And of course this brave new world of improved communication is based on the premise that all the new software and hardware that HMRC will use will be cutting edge.

In view of previous IT disasters , such as the "upgrade" to Tax Credits a few years ago, HMRC will buy the cheapest hardware & sotfware they can, not listen to the staff who will actually *try* to use it , and then announce that it is the vest thing since sliced bread.

People need to remember that the staff like the OP want to deliver the best service that they can, but they are held back by senior managers who have no clue what job the staff do and instead insist on imposing directives that do not help the public.

Electronic/phone communication will now be the only way to contact HMRC after ;ast thursdays announcement that 157 offices are going to close and there will be only 13 Offices left nationwide so lets hope they get it right .....

GwylimT

Preferably it wouldn't take nine months to get my correct underpayment figure. Then I pay it off and think its all sorted, I mean I could tell them to the pence what I owed but they couldn't compute. For a further six months I was getting threatening letters for not paying, each time I posted them back a copy of their receipt of my payment, apparently that wasn't proof!

It would also be nice if it didn't take five and a half hours over three days before the phone is answered.

chrismac1

Personally I don't think the mess is so much the fault of HMRC senior management, grim though they doubtless are. The real people to blame are Gordon Brown and George Osborne. Generally their budgets have made the UK tax system more complicated, not less. Yet they have cut back on staff numbers, and kept cutting.

In the early years of this process you could argue that things were so inefficient there was plenty of cutting you could do without damaging service levels or putting tax receipts at risk.

But whatever low-hanging fruit was there has all been picked now. No credible argument can be made for further staff cuts. In my book, if you think you have great new systems which will save lots of staff time, great. Put in the systems and get them working THEN cut whatever staff it is sensbile to cut. Doing it in reverse order is just plain dumb.

chrismac1

I have 137 clients covering 66 limited companies. In the last 6 years I have TWICE met a "Compliance Officer" for checking records. In my view that is utterly derisory.

WannaBLoaded

blondebubbles wrote: »

Which will be why they are increasing staff. When I did it I visited 2 a week on average.

You used to be a tax inspector :eek:

People hate you guys,

I think it is obvious, from a self employed persons perspective, that hrmc are not equipped enough to deal with non compliance.

I read recently that they are actually getting rid of staff

WannaBLoaded

blondebubbles wrote: »

No I never used to be a tax inspector as said, it doesn't exist now.

If people hate me because of my job then they are small minded.

The fact you are happy that people are losing their jobs proves that.

Compliance officer, tax inspector, same thing.

Yes, tax job losses do give me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside - sorry :A

WannaBLoaded

blondebubbles wrote: »

Charming. I hope it never happens to you were you need to worry about how you are going to pay for your home or support your kids.

Thankfully for me I have a job and will continue to do so but I have colleagues who aren't as fortunate.

I'm self employed ££££££



They can go to foodbanks worst case, it's not like they will be in poverty. Plus, there are plenty of jobs available, especially during christmas.

Also, the people who have been there for a while will get payouts when they leave.

I'm not a monster but hate the gov.

jem16

WannaBLoaded wrote: »

I'm not a monster but hate the gov.

What's hating the government got to do with people who work at HMRC? They are just ordinary people trying to make a living the same as you.

Sorry - you've got quite a ridiculous attitude.

chrismac1

In my experience people who profess to "hate the government" are at the front of the queue jumping up and down when their local surgery or fire station closes, bin collection gets less frequent, planning department gets slower due to cuts, etc.

In the USA, when polled nearly 60% of people think government should be smaller. But when asked what departments should be cut amongst the high spending areas, 35% is about the maximum % you can get to tell a pollster that department X should be cut.

In other words, the majority of the US public want something for nothing. I don't have the figures for the UK but I bet they'd be even more extreme here.

WannaBLoaded

jem16 wrote: »

What's hating the government got to do with people who work at HMRC? They are just ordinary people trying to make a living the same as you.

Sorry - you've got quite a ridiculous attitude.

Yes, but there is earning a living and then there is being part of a business designed to shaft the poor and make the rich richer.

Bailiffs are also only doing their job, but it doesn't stop them pretending that they have warrants when they don't and making empty threats to drill locks when they can't.