{"id":11171,"date":"2011-07-20T17:35:18","date_gmt":"2011-07-20T16:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=11171"},"modified":"2011-07-20T17:35:18","modified_gmt":"2011-07-20T16:35:18","slug":"hmrc-wont-be-able-to-square-the-circle-of-collecting-tax-unless-its-allowed-to-spend-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2011\/07\/20\/hmrc-wont-be-able-to-square-the-circle-of-collecting-tax-unless-its-allowed-to-spend-more\/","title":{"rendered":"HMRC won&#8217;t be able to square the circle of collecting tax unless it&#8217;s allowed to spend more"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nao.org.uk\/publications\/1012\/reducing_costs_in_hmrc.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">see the National Audit Office has said<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>HM Revenue &amp; Customs faces a significant challenge in securing a \u00a31.6 billion reduction in running costs over the next four years, at the same time as increasing tax revenues, improving customer service and achieving reductions in welfare payments, according to a report today by the National Audit Office.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span>That's an understatement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>They might just as well have said they can't do it -\u00a0because\u00a0that's the reality.<\/p>\n<p>Worse, the harm of trying is going to be high. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cityam.com\/news-and-analysis\/tax-issues-prompt-26pc-large-firms-consider-leaving-the-uk\" target=\"_blank\">I note this<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>OVER a quarter (26 per cent) of large businesses are considering a full or part relocation abroad, with Britain\u2019s high and complex taxes remaining their main cause for complaint.<\/p>\n<p>More than half (58 per cent) of the businesses eyeing a move to foreign shores cited tax issues as a leading factor, according to research by HMRC.<\/p>\n<p>Around one in five (19 per cent) of those considering a move cited general business tax issues as their primary complaint, while 13 per cent said that more favourable tax conditions in other countries had prompted them to consider a move.<\/p>\n<p>Over three quarters (78 per cent) of HMRC\u2019s \u201clarge business service\u201d customers said that the administrative burden of tax compliance had increased from 2009 to 2010.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Read between the lines - that says poor service is driving people away. Not tax rates. And that's the fault of the people at HMRC - there's just not enough of them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Documents\/PCSTaxGap.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">It's economic suicide to cut tax staff when you need every penny of tax revenue you can get. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Recruit more people now: that answer is simple. Let's cut this deficit. Not\u00a0increase\u00a0it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I see the National Audit Office has said: HM Revenue &amp; Customs faces a significant challenge in securing a \u00a31.6 billion reduction in running costs<br \/><a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2011\/07\/20\/hmrc-wont-be-able-to-square-the-circle-of-collecting-tax-unless-its-allowed-to-spend-more\/\"><em> Read the full article&#8230;<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hmrc","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}