Big George wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 5:55 pm
well that's something I suppose
I mean, not really - in fact it's a non-story. The person to ask the question about is his non-dom wife and whether she ever had to pay a penalty, although in reality she's entitled to manage her own tax affairs. Just that if she did it then reflects badly on Sunak, especially as he should be encouraging her to pay the appropriate UK taxes.
It amazes me that anybody can get away with not paying taxes when HMRC seem so on top of chasing people. In the past six months I've had to pay something like £350 as a one-off payment for a tax issue (work used the wrong code) and this year have had my personal allowance reduced by over £500 so they can make back an estimated £165 shortfall.
It amazes me that anybody can get away with not paying taxes when HMRC seem so on top of chasing people. In the past six months I've had to pay something like £350 as a one-off payment for a tax issue (work used the wrong code) and this year have had my personal allowance reduced by over £500 so they can make back an estimated £165 shortfall.
The old adage if you owe the HMRC £165 it's your problem, if you owe them £3.7m it's their problem
Best thing I ever did was turn down (repeatedly) offers from companies who were working on those loan schemes.
Even though (at the time) there was nothing technically wrong with them, it has been painful, tragic even, to see to what lengths HMRC have hunted down people who worked through those schemes and retrospectively targeted them.
Shameful when compared to something like this. Thousands, maybe in some cases 10s of thousands as opposed to millions of £'s....
I'm interested to see some meaningful policies from any side about how they are going to avoid net zero/climate change thinking completely collapsing a number of traditional industries in the next decade and what they actually intend to do in the face of the demographic timebomb the first world/western world is sat on and how they intend to socially manage the shrinkage.
YorksHammer wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:48 am
It amazes me that anybody can get away with not paying taxes when HMRC seem so on top of chasing people. In the past six months I've had to pay something like £350 as a one-off payment for a tax issue (work used the wrong code) and this year have had my personal allowance reduced by over £500 so they can make back an estimated £165 shortfall.
HMRC are very good at the basics like your examples. The system picks up a lot of this for them and passing the risk of penalties etc onto the employer ensures most are compliant and on top of things.
They are also very good at campaigns like the loan charge. Finding an issue and then casting the net wide (some would say too wide…) to catch everyone they think they should regardless of materiality.
They are absolutely terrible on complex investigations like Zahawi. They just don’t have enough people with the skills to do it.
They are basically just a processing department now. I’ve seen the decline in my 20 odd years dealing with them. Stick me and a dozen of my colleagues in there and we’d get the tax take up overnight.
Given it is the revenue raising part of government, the level of underinvestment is just embarrassing but then when the tax take generally goes up year on year then where is the pressure for anything else to happen?
MB wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:40 am are basically just a processing department now. I’ve seen the decline in my 20 odd years dealing with them. Stick me and a dozen of my colleagues in there and we’d get the tax take up overnight.
Given it is the revenue raising part of government, the level of underinvestment is just embarrassing but then when the tax take generally goes up year on year then where is the pressure for anything else to happen?
In particular relation to the part f your post I highlighted, I was having a chat a couple of weeks ago, and said that the first thing that I'd do if I ruled the world, or the UK at least, would be to double the amount of HMRC staff (OK, double might be a tad too much, but you get the drift). I wonder how many times over that would pay for itself and how many it would deter from doing Zahawi like stuff, etc in the first place.
There are no penalties for "innocent" tax errors, the boss of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has told MPs.
Appearing before a Commons committee, Jim Harra was pressed on issues around the tax affairs of Nadhim Zahawi.
The Conservative Party chairman is facing calls to resign, after it emerged he paid a penalty to HMRC.
Mr Harra stressed he could not comment on individual cases but said penalties were not applied when someone had taken "reasonable care".
Mr Zahawi has said HMRC accepted the error over previously unpaid tax was "careless and not deliberate". He has also insisted he has "acted properly throughout".
The HMRC chief executive was due to be giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee about managing tax compliance following the pandemic.
However, he also faced questions related to the tax arrangements of Mr Zahawi, who has come under growing pressure in recent weeks.
Whilst he would not comment on specific individuals, Mr Harra said: "There are no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs. So if you take reasonable care, but nevertheless make a mistake, whilst you will be liable for the tax and for interest if it's paid late, you would not be liable for a penalty.
"But if your error was as a result of carelessness, then legislation says that a penalty could apply in those circumstances."
Indeed. 30% is also the maximum penalty for a careless error and is usually mitigated down if the taxpayer has “cooperated fully” so someone is lying and my bet is on the Tory minister.
Will be interesting to see who Dan’s next target is. He confirmed it is another MP but not a Conservative. Also meant to be even bigger than this one.
Every time I hear Hunt, Reeves, Starmer or Sunak speak I feel like I've been transported back in time to some god awful regional conference for Jobcentre Plus or the NHS.
In his response letter to Sunak not one apology or mention that he was sorry, just how great the vaccine roll out was (all down to him in his mind) and the Queen's funeral and then slagging off the press.
MB wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 1:48 pm
Indeed. 30% is also the maximum penalty for a careless error and is usually mitigated down if the taxpayer has “cooperated fully” so someone is lying and my bet is on the Tory minister.
Will be interesting to see who Dan’s next target is. He confirmed it is another MP but not a Conservative. Also meant to be even bigger than this one.
It has been suggested he’s in the Hunt for a cabinet minister.