Tax Talk’s top HMRC blunders – Taxing anecdotes as we’ve experienced them!

HRMC has been experiencing a lot of problems in recent months as we all know, with incorrect coding notices being the most high profile. Due to a mixture of computer and personnel errors, the blunders continue and we face them all the time in our daily dealings with individual Revenue advisors. In some cases the mistakes are so nonsensical, they are actually rather comical, although for the individual taxpayer facing a lengthy tax re-claim, perhaps not……

Relationship managers combined with tax centre cuts to create uneven playing field

HMRC has been criticized heavily in recent months for a range of internal failings and so at first glance the announcement last week, that it will be introducing a new role of customer coordinator to manage taxpayer relationships, sounded good. However, is this going to create a 3-tier system for taxpayers? And potentially leave those needing the most help with the least support?

Local Business Owners React to the Pre-Budget Report

We predicted it would be a controversial pre-budget report and it lived up to expectations, with some headline measures that are clearly designed to win over the hearts and minds of Labour’s core supporters. But in spite of this, most observers would agree that overall, it was a pretty good result for Surrey’s business owners.

“Inoculate” your business and save on taxes with key green initiatives

Much continues to be written about green businesses and the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Research has shown its importance for reputation management. A study published in the Journal of Reputation Management showed clearly that firms who had a reputation for “doing good” bounced back much more quickly after an industry crisis compared with their less altruistic counterparts. In effect, their CSR policies had an “inoculating effect”, creating a “reservoir of goodwill” among stakeholders. In addition to the public relations benefits, the right strategy can also deliver a significant financial advantage as this article will highlight with an overview of the different green tax breaks relevant for small to medium sized businesses.