.
There is an arrogance displayed by some civil servants, as witness the initial refusal by the Permanent Secretary for Tax at HM Revenue and Customs to apologise for the errors resulting in 1.4 million people facing demands for additional unpaid taxes.
He said, ‘I’ve read the papers, listened to the media and heard stories of HMRC blunder and IT failure – neither of those are true.’ How else can he explain the cock-up then? Since then this mandarin has been leant upon and he has apologised.
As further witness to how HMRC are divorced from the real world, we also learn that folk owing less than £300 will have the amounts waived. Those owing between £300 and £2,000 can repay the money in monthly instalments over one to three years.
However, those owing more than £2,000 will have no more than three months to return the cash; this on the basis that ‘they were likely to be the highest earners’. That may be true but, nonetheless, the mistake is not their fault and they also ought to be given time to pay.
An unknown number of people are owed money by the HMRC and it is also unknown how long they will have to wait for repayment.
One thing is for sure and that is that our tax system is due for a major overhaul. And it wouldn’t do any harm to overhaul its Permanent Secretary either!
.
There is an arrogance displayed by some civil servants, as witness the initial refusal by the Permanent Secretary for Tax at HM Revenue and Customs to apologise for the errors resulting in 1.4 million people facing demands for additional unpaid taxes.
He said, ‘I’ve read the papers, listened to the media and heard stories of HMRC blunder and IT failure – neither of those are true.’ How else can he explain the cock-up then? Since then this mandarin has been leant upon and he has apologised.
As further witness to how HMRC are divorced from the real world, we also learn that folk owing less than £300 will have the amounts waived. Those owing between £300 and £2,000 can repay the money in monthly instalments over one to three years.
However, those owing more than £2,000 will have no more than three months to return the cash; this on the basis that ‘they were likely to be the highest earners’. That may be true but, nonetheless, the mistake is not their fault and they also ought to be given time to pay.
An unknown number of people are owed money by the HMRC and it is also unknown how long they will have to wait for repayment.
One thing is for sure and that is that our tax system is due for a major overhaul. And it wouldn’t do any harm to overhaul its Permanent Secretary either!
.
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