A day to remember!

This year, Valentine’s Day was a day to remember for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, senior HMRC staff went on strike over changes to the three tier performance management scheme that was introduced last year. These changes meant that a fixed 10% of staff would fall into the bottom tier of “Must Improve” whilst 20% would be in the top tier of “Exceeded Expectations”. A spokesman for their Union said that “Our members are not faceless bureaucrats…….. The work they do builds schools, hospitals, libraries and playgrounds.” It would be interesting to know how many people missed them!
Secondly, and affecting a great many other people, HMRC announced that they had decided to stagger the start of the penalty regime under Real Time Information (RTI). Originally, “in year” penalties and interest for late filing and late payments were all meant to be introduced in April. However, the new timetable is as follows:
* Interest on payments of PAYE/NIC not made by the due date will start in April 2014
* Automatic penalties for the late filing of RTI Returns will start in October 2014
* Automatic penalties on payments of PAYE/NIC not made by the due date will start in April 2015
These changes will mean that employers who bring their submissions up to date on or before 5th October 2014 will not face any penalties.
In announcing these changes HMRC’s Director General, Ruth Owen, said “The introduction of RTI is going extremely well for the majority of employers but there are still some who need a bit more time to adapt fully to the changes.” This appears at first to be a most unusual appreciation by HMRC of the difficulties faced by many people in understanding the complexity of the tax regulations. That is, until you know that there was a huge outcry from taxpayer’s representatives a few days earlier when HMRC sent out hundreds of incorrect “no-filing” notices. Refusing to accept that they are themselves facing difficulties, and passing the buck instead onto the taxpayers, is much more typical HMRC behaviour.
No doubt you were already aware of the above. Or were there other things occupying you on Valentine’s Day?
WatkinsonBlack are pleased to advise on these as well as other matters, including providing a very cost-effective payroll bureau service. If you want to arrange a no-obligation initial meeting on any taxation or accounting matter then please contact us.
Please note that these ideas are intended to inform rather than advise and you should always obtain professional advice before taking any action.