in praise of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs!

[dellzeqq]

ring 'em up, ask a question, get an answer. None of that 'where can I send you' Local Authority mullarkey, never mind the 'I'm sorry our system doesn't work that way' Barclays balderdash.

Questions about Inheritance Tax - answered politely, respectfully, and slowly.

Questions about Capital Gains Tax - answered politely, in great detail, and with great patience

Questions about Income Tax Returns - answered politely, carefully and with due regard for my not really wanting to know

Questions about Her Nibs' tax code - 'whoops, our mistake, we'll fix it now'

Bravo HRMC! Top Government Department!

 

[darth vadar]

Despite what the Daily Mail and the Daily Express might think - on the whole, public sector workers do provide a good service.

I only wish that was recognised by the hysterical ramblings of people who think they have all have a cushy job on big money as well as a massive 'gold plated' pension.

 

[martint235]

I don't know if we have any HMRC members on CC so I'll take a bow on behalf of the Civil Service as a whole.....

 

[StuartG]

I do find a difference between Revenue & Customs. I agree Revenue are polite and try to be helpful. But there is a sort of prissiness there. Policy and process rule supreme. Great when its working in your favour, not so much when it is not. And Revenue forms need to be explained!

Whereas on Customs (and here I mean VAT) they go out of their way to be helpful to business. Their forms are simplicity to complete with no indecipherable nomenclature despite having a raft of complex legislation behind them. When they ring you they go out of their way to both answer the questions and not be difficult on technicalities.

One gets the feeling that the VAT people target those who owe them real money or in circumstances where significant tax may be lost to the nation. Everybody else they try to trust. Whereas the Revenue people start from the opposite end assuming everybody is a fraudster until proven otherwise. When the revenue at stake is probably less than the cost of processing the returns this is a real problem.

But overall I agree with you Dell. Barclays is truly dreadful. Can't be because they are a bank as the Co-op are always great (business & personal). May be its because the Co-op doesn't pay its managers stratospheric bonuses to concentrate at making a fast buck in the casino rather than provide a decent call centre (with authority to actually correct mistakes and give authoriative information).

If only every organisation could model their call centres on Orange in the days of Hans Spaak. They helped Orange grow from No 4 to No 1 in a very short time without having to rely on wall to wall promotion. Oh, those were the days.

 

[yello]

I've had pretty much the same experience with HMRC and the Dept of Work and Pensions. I had to deal with both a good deal before we moved out to France and I really couldn't fault the service. I almost began to look forward to phoning the DWP! Not least because of the accents! (They're based in Newcastle).

 

[fossyant]

Dell that's the biggest mistake you can make. Never, ever phone and ask them questions. You'll now be on the list to mither you about your tax returns.....

At my last company, we decided not to ask any more questions as we found out from a tax visit - you start asking, they start looking !

 

[StuartG]

At my last company, we decided not to ask any more questions as we found out from a tax visit - you start asking, they start looking !

1. Sound dumb and poor. Not difficult for me.

2. Not necessary to give them your name unless you are quibbling about money. The VAT people in particular are very happy to discuss when and where not you should be charge/claiming VAT without knowing your account.

Why should they chase people who are trying to be honest?

 

[ChrisKH]

One swallow does not a summer make.

HM Revenue and Customs serve one purpose and that is to take money from you.

 

[dellzeqq]

One swallow does not a summer make.

HM Revenue and Customs serve one purpose and that is to take money from you.

well they told me that putting in a return late was ok (in my particular circumstances) and that I wouldn't have to pay a penalty. So there, Mr. Cross-Border VAT Guru!!!!!

 

[mgarl10024]

If only every organisation could model their call centres on Orange in the days of Hans Spaak.

Little pedantic, but it was Hans Snook.

 

[ChrisKH]

well they told me that putting in a return late was ok (in my particular circumstances) and that I wouldn't have to pay a penalty. So there, Mr. Cross-Border VAT Guru!!!!!

Good for you dell. The waves of hostility are a direct result of our current VAT Inspector, who is just a bit too cute for my liking.

 

[StuartG]

Little pedantic, but it was Hans Snook.

Apologies but age gets to the little grey cells ... thanks for the link. Sad to see such a charasmatic who built a great company and changed an industry now:

"helps out friends and neighbours with whirlpool bath related issues"

Oh, and into quack medicine too. Perhaps Barclays should bung him a couple of million to sort out their customer relation problem while they count their bonuses. Or maybe CTC ...

 

[Norm]

People always look funny at me when they ask me for tax advice and I tell them to call HMRC. I've always had good impartial advice and fair treatment, other than when I've tried to use their bloody secure portal, which is crap.

 

[Flying Dodo]

One swallow does not a summer make.

HM Revenue and Customs serve one purpose and that is to take money from you.

Last week the Office of Tax Simplification published a list of 1,042 tax reliefs that were going to be reviewed in the "interests of simplification". 74 of these are being looked at in depth now, with a further 75 at a later stage, whilst the other 883 are unlikely to be reviewed.

The 74 key reliefs consist of EIS, VCT and film tax reliefs, CGT on private residences, various aspects of life assurance taxation, some parts of Inheritance tax and a whole variety of obscure reliefs which I won't bore you with.

One of their key criteria is reviewing reliefs which benefit a small number of taxpayers but which may create distortions in the tax system, or which are complex to operate. They've said the cost of the tax avoided by the reliefs won't be the key driver.

(Victor Meldrew mode)
I don't believe it!

 

[bobg]

Thank you Martint as an ex member of HMCE ( pre I/Rev ) amalgamation, I'll take a bow on behalf of my colleages. Given that a recent survey of employees showed an 18% ( second from bottom) satisfaction level with HMRC management, it's quite remarkable that they provide any service at all. When I joined I was visiting every ship that arrived from foreign, when I left we were visiting one in 10 with a 50% shortfall in uniformed staff. As a VAT officer I visited traders over a region of approx 20 miles, when I left, staff based in Liverpool were travelling to Carlisle and back on the same day to do a VAT visit... The last I heard, office staff were obliged to gather daily on arrival (standing only) around a white board ( although not allowed to call it "white",) while each member of a team were asked to explain their performance on the basis daily stats generated.... and that on a max of about £18k Cushy life really doesn't enter into it.... rant over