Most of us would expect that the authority entrusted by our Government to administer the assessment and collection of tax, HM Revenue and Customs, to be a professional, well organised department. Here are just a few of their clangers which, provided you are not on the receiving end, will hopefully make you laugh and will in any case prove they are not so professional after all.
May 2012 – Last year HM Revenue and Customs decided to wait until four months after the deadline date to advise employers that their Employers Annual Return forms were still outstanding, by which time the penatly charges had quadrupled. Because of all the criticism they received, this year HM Revenue and Customs decided to send every employer a letter advising of their obligation to file a Return whether the employer had already filed the Return or not. Apparently, it was cheaper to do this than have the computer just send a letter to those employers who had yet to file a Return – hardly outstanding in any sense of the word!
April 2012 – HM Revenue and Customs issued 12,000 penalty notices to people for not completing their Self Assessment Tax Returns, even though the people concerned had previously been removed from the Self Assessment system. HM Revenue and Customs moved swiftly to apologise and write to those concerned to advise the penatly was not payable.
March 2012 – The Chancellor announced the ‘pasty tax’ which would mean that if you are at the front of the queue buying your hot pasty you would have to pay 20% VAT on it. For those at the back of the queue who got served when the pasty was cold, no VAT is payable. This necessitated a change to a well known rhyme.
Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair;
Say Simple Simon to the pieman,
“Let me taste your ware”.
Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
“Show me first your penny”;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
“Those pies are hot. I’m an undercover officer for HM Revenue and Customs and you are under arrest for tax avoidance.”
Dealing with them may be a daunting thought, but remember – we’re in your corner.
