Former HMRC executive chair receives knighthood 8 January 2018
Former HMRC executive chair and permanent secretary Ed Troup has received a knighthood services to taxpayers and the tax system.
The news in the 2018 New Year’s honours list of the Knighthood came just days after the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) hosted a speech and roundtable discussion with Edward Troup and a small group of senior representatives from the tax profession. Mr. Troup was speaking ahead of his retirement from HMRC at the end of December 2017 and he talked about how he saw HMRC and the tax profession developing in the future, including his belief that government was likely to be tempted to put further responsibilities on tax advisers in the future.
One possible direction that was noted by the CIOT was segmentation of tax agents, categorising them with different levels of ‘risk rating’, with their clients being scrutinised accordingly.
Read more from the CIOT .
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Aliens and vertigo included in this year’s SA excuses 19 January 2018
Every year, following the 31 January Self Assessment (SA) deadline, HMRC receives a number of imaginative and intriguing excuses for not completing tax returns on time.
Each year also sees some wildly optimistic expense claims. Recent excuses include:
I couldn’t file my return on time as my wife has been seeing aliens and won’t let me enter the house. I’ve been far too busy touring the country with my one-man play. My ex-wife left my tax return upstairs, but I suffer from vertigo and can’t go upstairs to retrieve it. My business doesn’t really do anything. I spilt coffee on it.
As well as the excuses, HMRC also receives some questionable items which taxpayers have tried to expense:
A three-piece suite for my partner to sit on when I’m doing my accounts. Birthday drinks at a Glasgow nightclub. Vet fees for a rabbit. Hotel room service – for candles and prosecco. £4.50 for sausage and chips meal expenses for 250 days.
The excuses and expenses listed above were all rejected.
The deadline for sending 2015-16 Self Assessment tax returns to HMRC, and paying any tax owed, is 31 January 2017.
Self Assessment customers can now also submit their return via their personal tax account. It takes 5 minutes to sign up for an account here .
To help customers fill in and file Self Assessment returns, the department provides online webchats, live webinars, YouTube videos and social media support, which can be accessed on any device.
Help is also available from the GOV.UK website at or from the Self Assessment helpline on 0300 200 3310.
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The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Policy News Journal
cipp.org.uk
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