Your accountant and HM Revenue & Customs
I respect HM Revenue & Customs but I have no time for them if they don’t stick to the rules the law.
Earlier this week a client knew they wouldn’t be able to pay their VAT on time and, on their behalf, I phoned the Business Payment Support Scheme to ask for time to pay.
I was told that the Scheme only applied to first requests not repeated requests for time to pay. I knew this was wrong but a small firm in the North of England doesn’t carry much weight with the head office of HM Revenue & Customs in London. So I contacted Taxation, who not only received an almost immediate reply from the HM Revenue & Customs Press Office but also published the story in this week’s Taxation. (The story itself)
The economy (at least in the small business sector) isn’t improving.
HM Revenue & Customs have been told to collect as much tax as possible by the Government. Businesses need, now more than ever, an accountant who will stand up to Revenue and fight for their client’s rights.
Will yours?
Well done Stuart – I saw your piece in taxation and was going to congratulate you on it anyway.
As regards standing up to HMRC sadly (very sadly) I agree this is necessary as further evidenced by another item in this week's Taxation (written by Colin D Lever).
The corollary of this however is that there are (also sadly) many so-called accountants who don't understand the rules themselves and who promise naive clients that they will get HMRC to back down where this is not appropriate. Eventually the accountant has to back down and then complains about HMRC who have simply refused to give in to what is little more than bullying.
Indeed there are also plenty of accountants who will play the part of a bully. One might suggest that HMRC bring this on themselves by their own approach. I tend to think that some bullies however adopt that approach as it enables them to 'win' regardless of the rights or wrongs of their argument.
Noe of this however should detract from the positive outcomes that can be achieved by good accountants like yourself who themselves refuse to give in when faced with HMRC incompetence, bullying or inconsistencies. Well done again.
[...] making a living anywhere is hard going for anyone. The other day he posted about the way in which HMRC sometimes doesn’t follow the law. In his view: HM Revenue & Customs have been told to collect as much tax as possible by the [...]
Thanks Mark. I haven't read Colin Lever's article yet but will as HMRC have recently told me that my “non-cooperation” may well increase the penalties payable by a client. My “non-cooperation” seems to equate to my unwillingness to accept everything HMRC tell me is correct!
[...] It isn’t true. So if you can’t pay any other tax bills such as your VAT tell the Scheme and include that liability in the arrangement to pay by instalments. [...]
[...] more success early this morning I phoned at 8:40, 8:50 and 9:05, only to hear the same message. So once again I contacted the Editor of Taxation who posted my experiences on the Taxation site and asked for [...]