5 December 2011
Publications that covered this article include The Daily Mail, 5 December 2011.
- Just 13% of HMRC staff think change is for the better
- Only 17% have confidence in senior managers
Continuing low levels of staff morale at HMRC is affecting the level of service taxpayers receive.
Our research says that a new HMRC staff survey, reveals that only 18% of staff felt motivated to help HMRC meet its objectives and only 37% of employees thought that poor performance was dealt with effectively.
Just 13% of HMRC employees felt that when changes are made at HMRC they are usually for the better and only 17% of HMRC staff had confidence in the decisions made by senior managers.
Roy Maugham, Tax Partner at our London office, comments: “The sense of disillusionment present in HMRC is clear to see; the worry is that it seems to be affecting customer service.”
“It is of great concern that when there is a problem with staff performance, which may impact the service HMRC provides, roughly two out of three employees feel that HMRC is not going to tackle that problem effectively.”
Roy says: “It should be acknowledged that the survey results are an improvement on last year’s figures, but even HMRC would admit they could hardly have been worse.”
“Even a slight improvement in the survey results cannot mask the fact that the second PAYE scandal in two years continues to have an impact on staff morale.”
According to our research, it emerged in June that over seven million people had been charged the wrong amount of tax and would either have to give money back to the taxman or wait for a rebate.
About 1.2 million people have been told that they owe HMRC an average of £600 each after it was discovered that they were undercharged tax over the past year.
Nearly six million people will get a rebate of £300 - £400 each following PAYE errors made from 2007/08 and before. The rebates are estimated to be worth £2.5billion.
Staff-cuts have reduced the Department by 40% and that offices are being shut around the country. There are now just 487 offices in the UK, down 31% from 708 in 2001.
Roy says: “Fears over job security obviously play their part in demotivating staff, but the lack of confidence in decisions made by senior managers and the severe criticism HMRC has faced from the Government and the public are also having a debilitating effect on morale.”
“HMRC is under huge pressure to maximise tax revenues and to combat tax evasion, and they have to get these results while battling significant staff shortages so you can perhaps sympathise with some of the challenges the Department is facing.”
“Even taking this into account, HMRC urgently need to address the issues raised in this survey because ultimately it is the taxpayer who loses out.”
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Hot on the heels of an announcement from HMRC that the closure date for the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) has been extended to 5 April 2016 has come speculation that the local banks are pushing for much higher transfers of funds into Liechtenstein and a minimum period for which any account must be kept open.
The total amount paid out by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in corporation tax refunds reached £9billion in the year to March 31 2010, up from £8.7billion in the previous year, says our research.
Our London office has appointed a new partner, Odhran Dodd to the Corporate Finance team.
Taxpayers who do not owe tax, or are even due a tax rebate from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), will be fined for the first time this year if they do not complete tax returns by January 31 2012.
A rally in M&A activity targeting UK private companies has ground to a halt over the last 12 months, our research has found.
Almost two thirds (65%) of all penalties and decisions issued by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to taxpayers in relation to VAT matters are subsequently found to be incorrect and are overturned on internal review.
Continuing low levels of staff morale at HMRC is affecting the level of service taxpayers receive.
Andrew Andronikou and Peter Kubik were appointed as Joint Administrators to Convers Sport Initiative plc (CSI).
