HMRC Is Shite

HMRC, PCS and The 10% Pay Demand - Losing Touch With Reality

2026-10-13T17:16:27.092+01:00

HMRC, PCS and the 10% Pay Demand: Is the Civil Service Losing Touch with Reality?

A 10% pay rise. A four-day week. No loss of pay. At a time when taxpayers are under pressure and public finances remain stretched, PCS's demands raise a serious question: where does employee entitlement end and public service responsibility begin?

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is preparing for a major civil service dispute, with demands that include a 10% pay rise and a four-day working week without a reduction in salary.

And for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), this is no distant Westminster squabble. PCS has members within the department, meaning a national dispute could have direct consequences for the people responsible for collecting taxes, tackling evasion and keeping essential services running.

The question is not whether civil servants deserve fair pay. Of course they do. The question is whether these particular demands are realistic, proportionate and defensible when measured against the economic pressures facing the country — and the expectations placed on those working in public service.

Ten per cent more pay. One day less work. Who picks up the bill?

Let's be blunt: demanding a 10% pay increase alongside a four-day working week with no loss of pay is an enormous ask.

A 10% rise is not a modest adjustment. It is a substantial increase in payroll costs. Introduce a shorter working week on top, and the government faces an even bigger challenge: maintaining service levels while potentially paying more for fewer contracted hours.

Someone must fund that arrangement. Ultimately, public spending comes from taxpayers, borrowing or money redirected from other priorities.

Those taxpayers include people whose own salaries have barely kept pace with the cost of living, employees who cannot simply decide to work one day less, and small businesses that must balance wage increases against the cost of keeping their doors open.

Why should the public sector automatically be entitled to a package that many private-sector workers could only dream of negotiating?

PCS will argue that pay has fallen behind inflation and that better conditions improve recruitment and retention. Those concerns deserve scrutiny. But they do not automatically justify a 10% award, let alone a simultaneous reduction in working hours without any reduction in salary.

Want more pay? Make the case. Want a four-day week? Prove it works. Demand both without demonstrating affordability or productivity gains, and the burden of justification becomes much harder to meet.

HMRC is not an ordinary employer

The implications for HMRC are particularly serious.

HMRC is responsible for collecting the revenue that pays for public services. Its employees deal with taxpayers, support businesses, investigate non-compliance and help ensure that the tax system operates effectively.

This is not work that can simply be switched off without consequences.

If industrial action affects operational teams, the potential results include longer customer waiting times, delayed casework, growing backlogs and disruption to compliance activity. The extent of any impact would depend on participation, the teams involved and the department's contingency plans.

That creates an uncomfortable contradiction.

The union is demanding more money and fewer working days from an organisation whose job is to secure the money that funds the country.

There is nothing inherently wrong with public servants seeking better conditions. But those demands must be considered alongside the service they are employed to deliver.

Public service is not just another transaction. It comes with responsibilities to the people who pay for it.

The four-day week: a right, or a reward to be earned?

A four-day week can work in some organisations. Where productivity improves, unnecessary work is removed or services can be redesigned, shorter hours may offer genuine benefits.

But it does not follow that every organisation can reduce working hours by 20% without compromising output or increasing costs.

HMRC is not one uniform workplace. Contact centres, compliance teams and specialist operational functions face different demands. Taxpayers cannot necessarily arrange their needs around a department-wide reduction in availability.

If employees work fewer hours, the department must explain how it will maintain service standards. Will existing staff deliver the same output in less time? Will processes become more efficient? Will technology make up the difference? Or will additional staff be required?

Each possibility has practical and financial consequences.

And if the answer is that productivity gains will cover the cost, where is the evidence? A demand of this scale should be supported by credible modelling, measurable targets and a convincing plan for protecting services.

Without that evidence, the four-day week risks looking less like a carefully designed productivity reform and more like a demand for improved terms without a sufficiently clear account of what the public receives in return.

The public-sector pay problem cannot be ignored — but neither can affordability

PCS has a case to make about pay, living costs, job security and working conditions. Those are legitimate subjects for negotiation.

However, there is a difference between arguing that employees deserve better remuneration and insisting that the taxpayer should fund a particular settlement regardless of the cost.

The government's pay framework exists because departments must operate within budgets. HMRC cannot simply increase its wage bill without considering the consequences for other spending, recruitment, investment and service delivery.

Nor should every pay dispute be reduced to a simplistic argument that public servants are overpaid. Many civil servants perform demanding work, and retaining experienced employees matters.

But the reverse is equally true: working for the state does not mean every pay demand is automatically reasonable.

A 10% rise combined with a four-day week without loss of pay requires a robust justification. It should not be treated as an entitlement merely because a union has put it on the negotiating table.

The same principle applies to industrial action. Employees have lawful rights to organise and take action, subject to the relevant legal requirements. But exercising those rights can still have consequences for the public, particularly when essential government services are affected.

Why HMRC should be concerned now

The proposed national ballot makes this more than an abstract argument. The planned ballot period is 20 October to 1 December 2026, subject to the necessary statutory requirements. A ballot does not itself mean strikes will happen, but it brings the prospect of disruption into sharper focus.

HMRC management must consider the potential impact on customer service, operational capacity and staff relations. It also needs to recognise that a prolonged dispute can create costs of its own through lost working time, recovery efforts and damaged trust.

There is a wider strategic question, too: what happens if employees and management become locked into a cycle of escalating demands and increasingly entrenched positions?

A sustainable outcome requires more than slogans. It requires an honest assessment of what the department can afford, what employees reasonably need and what service taxpayers should expect.

That means challenging unrealistic proposals where necessary, while being equally prepared to address genuine problems with pay, workloads and working conditions.

Neither side should be exempt from scrutiny.

The bottom line: demands are easy; paying for them is harder

PCS is entitled to campaign for its members. But the public is entitled to ask whether a 10% pay rise and a four-day week without loss of pay represent a reasonable use of public money.

Those are substantial demands, and the union should be expected to demonstrate how they can be delivered without undermining HMRC's capacity to serve taxpayers.

A shorter working week might have a place in a modern civil service. Higher pay may be justified in particular circumstances. But combining the two on a national scale, without clear evidence of affordability and productivity gains, is a different proposition altogether.

HMRC cannot lose sight of its central purpose. Its job is to collect the money that keeps the country running, not to become a test case for employment demands that have not been properly costed or operationally justified.

Fair pay is a legitimate objective. A blank cheque is not. And a four-day week cannot simply be declared affordable because it is popular with those asking for it.

The question PCS must answer is simple: if taxpayers are expected to pay more while receiving fewer contracted working hours, what concrete improvements will they get in return?

Until that question has a convincing answer, the union's demands will remain open to a fundamental challenge — not because civil servants should accept poor conditions, but because public money comes with public responsibilities.

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HMRC Trainee Wins £16,000 - Tribunal Finds ‘Kill Russians’ Allegations Were Invented

2026-10-02T16:13:17.935+01:00

An HMRC trainee has been awarded more than £16,000 in compensation after an employment tribunal found that serious allegations made against her were fabricated.

The trainee, known as Ms X, had been accused of saying she wanted to use her position at HMRC to “kill Russians for killing her family”.

But the tribunal heard that she never made the comments attributed to her.

Instead, the judge found that her line manager had invented the allegations and made false notes about a private meeting with the trainee.

Ms X, originally from Abkhazia in Georgia, speaks English with a Russian accent. She was granted asylum in the UK in 2004 and subsequently became a British citizen.

The case raises questions about the importance of accurate records, proper management procedures and fairness when serious allegations are made in the workplace.

I have to say, I didn't have "kill Russians" on my HMRC bingo card!

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HMRC’s Inability To Part With Capgem

2026-09-29T16:59:09.148+01:00

There is something profoundly dispiriting about a government department promising to break up an old outsourcing relationship, and then continuing to hand the same supplier billions of pounds.

That is the uncomfortable lesson from HM Revenue & Customs and Capgemini.

The figures are extraordinary. Research by The Register, using HMRC's own published transaction data, found that the tax authority paid Capgemini at least £4.2 billion across 15,726 transactions between 2014 and July 2026. Sixteen months of data are missing, meaning the true figure could be higher.

And this is not simply an argument about one contract. It is about the ability of the state to learn from its own experience.

HMRC's original Aspire outsourcing arrangement with Capgemini began in 2004. It was supposed to be a ten-year deal. Instead, it became a sprawling technological dependency. By the time Aspire was due to end in 2017, the National Audit Office estimated that HMRC would have spent £10.4 billion, against the £4.1 billion figure used when Capgemini's bid was evaluated. The NAO said HMRC had not market-tested significant elements of the arrangement and that benchmarking indicated it had paid above-market prices for some work.

The lesson appeared obvious: disentangle the department from the contractor, bring greater control in-house, diversify suppliers and make future contracts shorter and more flexible.

HMRC itself said precisely that.

Its 2015-16 annual report described a phased exit from Aspire, with more development and delivery brought under HMRC's direct control. It said this would provide greater flexibility and control over its digital strategy.

Yet the divorce has proved remarkably amicable.

Capgemini continued to win lucrative work supporting systems associated with its former empire. In 2022, HMRC awarded it a £51 million contract for tax-system support. It subsequently received a deal worth up to £214 million for maintaining legacy applications, followed by a contract worth up to £245.5 million in 2024. A separate five-year agreement to operate two major tax platforms runs to 2029 and is valued at between £403 million and £574 million.

Then came the latest twist. In 2026, Capgemini won HMRC's contact-centre contract, worth up to £500 million, with a basic term running to 2034 and extensions capable of taking it to 2036. The official procurement notice confirms the two possible one-year extensions.

So much for breaking up!

HMRC is entitled to say that these are new procurements, not simply Aspire being quietly extended through the back door. It says its awards comply with procurement law and that it has moved from a handful of large legacy contracts towards a more diverse supplier base.

That defence may be legally correct. It does not make the broader picture any less troubling.

The central question is not whether every individual contract was technically lawful. It is whether the taxpayer has escaped the dependency that HMRC itself identified as a problem.

There is a particularly revealing example. In 2022, HMRC awarded Capgemini a contract without prior publication, arguing that, for technical reasons, only Capgemini could provide the required services and that there was no reasonable alternative. The official procurement notice says those services were necessary to maintain business-critical systems while they were replaced, modernised or decommissioned.

That is precisely how technological dependency perpetuates itself.

The incumbent built the system. The incumbent understands the system. The incumbent is then needed to keep the system running while the government replaces it. The replacement takes time. The government cannot risk disrupting the tax system. Another contract follows.

Repeat.

This is not an argument for pretending that government can simply rip out complex computer systems overnight. HMRC collects hundreds of billions of pounds in tax and the NAO acknowledged that Aspire provided continuity of service with few significant failures.

But that is precisely why the department should have been so determined to avoid recreating the dependency.

There is also a wider political embarrassment here. Ministers increasingly talk about using the enormous purchasing power of the state to support British businesses. Yet one of the government's biggest technology purchasers remains deeply reliant on a multinational supplier whose relationship with the tax authority stretches back more than two decades.

The issue is not that Capgemini is foreign. Nor should nationality become a substitute for value, competence or competition.

The issue is choice.

A government department should be able to say: this is our system, this is our data, these are our skills, and here are several suppliers capable of competing for the work.

It should not repeatedly find itself saying: this system is too complicated, too important or too dependent on its incumbent supplier for anyone else to take over.

That is the real scandal here; not that Capgemini keeps winning contracts, but that HMRC appears to have found it extraordinarily difficult to make itself genuinely independent of one.

The taxpayer deserves better than an outsourcing relationship that refuses to die.

And if ministers really mean what they say about competition, resilience, British capability and better value from public procurement, HMRC should be among the first departments required to demonstrate exactly how it intends to end this cycle.

Because a contract that was supposed to end in 2017, yet leaves its incumbent potentially embedded until 2036, is not much of a break-up.

It is a very expensive long-distance relationship.

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HMRC Steps Up Scrutiny of UK Billionaires with Dedicated Compliance Managers

2026-09-22T16:33:17.913+01:00

HMRC has assigned a personal compliance manager to every billionaire within its reach, in a significant tightening of oversight on the super-rich.

According to reports from mid-to-late September 2026, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has refreshed its list of billionaires to cover all those with a UK tax footprint, not only those who file personal tax returns in Britain. The move draws on HMRC data, public information, and data shared by other countries. It follows criticism from the National Audit Office and a parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, which previously highlighted gaps in HMRC’s understanding of billionaires’ affairs and noted that allocation of managers had been risk-based rather than purely wealth-based.

Customer Compliance Managers (CCMs) are senior tax professionals who act as a single point of contact. They develop a detailed picture of an individual’s finances, behaviours, and risks, review returns with intelligence from UK and international sources, and challenge underpayments through compliance checks. HMRC already used CCMs for the most complex or high-risk wealthy taxpayers (roughly 15,000 people, or about 2% of its broader “wealthy” population of those with incomes of £200,000+ or assets of £2 million+). Extending this systematically to all identified billionaires marks a clear shift.

An HMRC spokesperson stated: “We want to help all customers get their tax right, including the UK’s wealthiest people. We’ve had dedicated customer compliance managers for wealthy individuals for several years, allowing us to identify and address tax risks effectively.”

The change aims to improve grip on complex, often international structures used by the ultra-wealthy and close gaps in the tax collected from this group. Wealthy individuals as a whole already contribute a large share of personal tax receipts, but previous reviews found incomplete coverage of the very richest. This dedicated approach is expected to help ensure more accurate compliance going forward.

Given the exodus from the UK, these new roles may not be that secure!

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HMRC’s Four Day Week Bonanza

2026-09-18T12:06:49.262+01:00

Nearly one in ten of HMRC’s most senior staff have stopped turning up on Fridays, as the taxman’s four-day week perk has exploded while taxpayers continue to wait for answers.

Figures released to Guido’s FOI Unit show that, as of 31 July this year, 9.1% of Grade 6 officials and 9.0% of Senior Civil Servants at HMRC were working compressed hours over a four-day week.

And the perk is growing fast.

In June 2024, 1,542 full-time HMRC staff were on a compressed four-day week. By July this year, that had risen to 2,267, a 47% increase in just two years.

Among the senior ranks, the growth is even more striking. The number of Grade 6 officials on compressed hours jumped 64%, while Grade 7 numbers rose 55%. The Senior Civil Service figure increased by 37.5%.

This is overwhelmingly a management phenomenon. The numbers at the bottom of the organisation have barely shifted: Assistant Officers and Administrative Assistants on four-day compressed hours remain at around 1%.

So while the junior staff keep the machinery running, an ever-growing slice of the management ranks are squeezing the working week into four days.

The obvious question is whether taxpayers are getting an equivalent service in return.

A Cabinet Office source told Guido: “It’s often the case that staff working on compressed hours do less work overall because of the way their weekday structure changes.”

HMRC insists that isn't happening, claiming employees on compressed hours “receive no reduction in expected workload, performance standards or accountability”.

There is, however, a rather awkward problem with that assurance: HMRC cannot produce the evidence to demonstrate that the arrangement has no effect on productivity or service delivery.

Asked for any internal review of the impact on productivity, output or customer service, HMRC confirmed that it “does not hold a central assessment, review or monitoring report”.

In other words, the taxman is expanding a working arrangement across thousands of staff, including a significant and growing proportion of its senior officials, without centrally monitoring whether it actually works.

Worse still, HMRC cannot even say how many applications for compressed hours it rejects, because there is no central record of applications.

That makes it rather difficult for taxpayers to know whether this is a carefully managed workforce policy or simply another benefit being handed out with remarkably little scrutiny.

And the backdrop is hardly one of flawless performance.

HMRC's own 2024/25 accounts show that just 76.9% of customer correspondence was dealt with within 15 working days, below its own 80% service standard. At the end of March 2025, 2.29 million items of correspondence were still on hand. HMRC also managed to answer only 71.5% of callers seeking an adviser, against an 85% target.

Yet at the same time as taxpayers were waiting for the taxman to answer their correspondence, HMRC was expanding a system under which staff can work their hours across four days instead of five.

The internal guidance says employees on compressed hours work 9 hours and 15 minutes across four days, rather than 7.4 hours across five. Arrangements can last for up to five years before staff have to reapply.

Temporary arrangements can be approved by a line manager without formal HMRC involvement, while the policy itself acknowledges that such arrangements can cover periods when “not all duties of your role are fulfilled”.

And then there is the rather generous interaction with home working.

Compressed hours sit alongside HMRC's two-days-a-week home-working arrangements, meaning a Grade 6 employee could potentially be physically in an HMRC office for just two days a week — while enjoying a three-day weekend.

Bank holidays are handled with a distinctly relaxed approach too: staff are told that their entitlement is not calculated automatically and that they must “keep a manual record”.

HMRC's wider policy document says it “believe[s] that flexible working can promote work-life balance and improve wellbeing and performance”.

That may be true for employees.

But for the taxpayer, the more important question is whether flexibility for HMRC staff is being matched by flexibility, speed and competence for the people who actually fund the organisation.

HMRC's own figures suggest there is still plenty of room for improvement. The department says customer service is getting better, but its correspondence performance remains below target, with millions of pieces of correspondence still being handled and hundreds of thousands missing the 15 day standard.

Before HMRC congratulates itself on the wonders of flexible working, perhaps it should first demonstrate that the taxpayer isn't the one paying for it!

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Hypocritical Wankers!

2026-09-13T11:58:42.930+01:00

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Blinkin' Flip!

2026-09-08T11:07:15.108+01:00

A former tax worker who described himself as "the ultimate genocidal racist monster" has been jailed for inciting hatred online after he was exposed by a BBC investigation.

Thomas Webster was sacked by HMRC and investigated by police after comments he made to an undercover journalist in the BBC programme 'Unmasked: Extreme Far Right'.

Webster, 29, from Lapworth, Warwickshire, admitted 10 counts of stirring up racial hatred online, including ones calling for the killing and extinction of his racial "enemies".

Webster also admitted to stirring up religious hatred and another count of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. He was sentenced to two years at Warwick Crown Court.

In his online posts, Webster said he wanted Jewish and gay people to be tortured and executed.

Webster also said he wanted to kill all Muslims until they were "globally extinct".

In one instance, he said if a migrant hotel was placed on his road he would "prepare for murder and prison time, I am serious".

Webster was a member of the far-right group Patriotic Alternative when a BBC Wales Investigates' undercover reporter secretly recorded him at two of the group's events in 2024.

He was filmed saying that in his job at HMRC he liked to "deliberately" give non-white people "bad information which sounds interesting, like I'm deliberately trying to sabotage them".

Webster was dismissed by HMRC in February 2025, a month after the programme was broadcast.

The HMRC said it took breaches of its standards "extremely seriously" and had "robust processes" in place to investigate concerns.

"Where standards are not met, we act decisively," HMRC said in a statement.

"Following an internal disciplinary process, the individual concerned was dismissed from HMRC and ceased to be employed by the department in February 2025."

Talking to an undercover BBC reporter, Webster self-identified as a "white totalitarianist" who believed in "a world where white becomes the default human race... all other races will be extinct."

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How To Spot Money Laundering - Lesson 1

2026-08-31T11:56:45.325+01:00

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£30 Off Your Tax Bill For 30 Minute Call Delay

2026-08-29T16:05:50.364+01:00

People on hold to HMRC for more than 30 minutes would get £30 off their tax bill under a Reform UK government, Robert Jenrick has announced.

Reform's economy spokesman said HMRC's treatment of taxpayers was "offensive to working people" and his party would tie the pay of senior HMRC officials to customer service targets.

To prevent abuse, the tax credit for phone delays would be limited to two occasions in a given tax year, Jenrick said.

In January 2025, the Public Accounts committee accused HMRC of seeking to "degrade its telephone service to drive taxpayers to digital channels" in a highly critical report., external

The MPs' report said nearly 44,000 customers were cut off without warning after being on hold for more than an hour in 2024 and "HMRC's treatment of taxpayers has damaged trust in the tax system".

Additionally, the pay of senior HMRC officials will be linked to their customer service performance.

It would be interesting to see if this policy, if Reform win the next election and actually implement it, would have any meaningful impact on the call handling performance of HMRC.

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HMRC's Army of Home Inspectors

2026-08-24T11:35:43.845+01:00

HMRC has hired an army of almost 500 new valuation agents to snoop on homes.

The Valuation Office Agency’s annual report up to the end of March showed that staff costs had risen by £31.5 million and the total Full Time Equivalent staff number has risen by 493, a ten-times increase in the hiring rate on the year before. The agency is being merged with HMRC. It said:

“The rise in staff costs is primarily due to our pay award, and an increase in agency staff costs of approximately £12 million to support performance recovery and data enhancement work to improve our Council Tax data quality.”

The agents will be able to demand entry to homes for “internal inspections” to determine whether they are worth over £2 million and will therefore have to pay Reeves’ so-called Mansion Tax. If you don’t let them in you will get a £200 fine or worse.

However, it is not as simple as that (irrespective of the fine) the current law does not give HMRC the right to enter your property to poke around in order to try and find evidence to hike the valuation for your Labour's new so-called 'High Value Council Tax Surcharge.'

Currently HMRC can ask the occupier to agree a time for an inspection but if the occupier refuses to agree, HMRC has to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for approval.

The occupier can object to the inspection on reasonable grounds for example that the inspection is not reasonably necessary; the proposed intrusion is disproportionate to the tax issue at stake; HMRC has not identified what an internal inspection would actually establish; adequate substitute evidence has been offered, or HMRC's proposed inspection is speculative or a fishing exercise.

These legal rights are a significant practical obstacle to Labour's 'mansion tax.' A system involving hundreds of thousands of valuations could scarcely make an individual First-tier Tribunal application every time an owner refused access without creating a substantial administrative burden.

Additionally, in the event a tax surcharge is made on a property, if that property is then sold for less than £2M the taxpayer can request a refund. IHT refunds are already an administrative nightmare, imagine the chaos of Burnham's mansion tax!

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HMRC Call Waiting Times and Letter Response Times

2026-08-23T11:12:48.754+01:00

I asked Claude to present me with the statistics about HMRC's customer service standards over the last 5 years wrt call answering times and letter response times.

Here is its response:

"Here's the trend for HMRC's two biggest phone lines over the last five years. Both got dramatically worse until 2022-24, then started improving — though not at the same pace.

Call answer times (minutes:seconds)

Year	Self Assessment helpline	Employers helpline
2020-21	15:12	09:07
2021-22	17:07	12:03
2022-23	25:14	16:03
2023-24	37:15	22:20
2024-25	23:40	26:32

The Self Assessment line peaked at over 37 minutes in 2023-24 (the year the Public Accounts Committee accused HMRC of deliberately degrading phone service to push people online) before improving to 23:40 in 2024-25. The Employers line went the other way — it kept getting worse into 2024-25, largely because of industrial action from December 2024 to June 2025. Overall call-answering rate (percentage of adviser attempts handled) was 71.5% in 2024-25 against an 85% target; it's since climbed to around 83–84% for April–September 2025.

Letter/correspondence response times (% answered within 15 working days, target 80%)

Year	% within 15 days
2020-21	Below target (pandemic-era decline)
2021-22	45.5%
2022-23	73%
2023-24	76%
2024-25	76.9%
Q1 2025-26 (Apr–Jun)	69.5% (dip — staff pulled onto phones for the Self Assessment peak)
Q2 2025-26 (Jul–Sep)	78.9%, improving to 87% by quarter end

Post has consistently missed its 80% target every year for the last five years. The lowest point was 2021-22, during the pandemic backlog, when fewer than half of letters got a reply within 15 days.

The bigger picture: the National Audit Office found taxpayers collectively spent 798 years on hold in 2022-23 and 558 years in 2024-25 — an improvement, but still enormous. HMRC received £51m in extra funding in May 2024 and a further £500m from the 2025 Spending Review, aimed at getting 90% of customer interactions to self-service/digital channels by 2029-30 (currently around 70-80%, depending on the quarter). Both call answering and 15-day correspondence figures remain below HMRC's own targets as of the latest published data (Q2 2025-26)."

I queried the letter response figures:

"Good instinct to question that — the "% within 15 working days" figure hides a lot. Let me dig into the actual average/median wait, not just the target-hit rate.You're right to push on that — and the "76.9% within 15 days" headline is misleading in an important way.

That statistic is a blended figure across simple correspondence — the bulk of what HMRC receives is straightforward stuff (change of address, simple claims, acknowledgements) that genuinely can be turned around fast. It's not representative of complex cases.

For anything more involved, the picture is very different:

HMRC runs an official "check when you can expect a reply" tool that individuals can use to see expected wait times for specific types of query. One RSM UK review found the tool showing a response time of 203 days (29 weeks) for online applications and letters requesting repayment, and 147 days (21 weeks) for paper returns.
Accountants and agents routinely report enquiry cases, complex repayment disputes, and non-standard correspondence taking 3–10+ months, based on forum and professional-body accounts — well beyond the "average" 15-day figure.
HMRC's own internal guidance sets separate targets for dealing with correspondence within both 15 and 40 working days, and instructs staff to send an interim acknowledgement — rather than a full reply — when the 15-day target can't be met. That acknowledgement can itself count toward "responding," while the substantive reply comes much later.

So the two things you've heard are both true and not really in conflict: the headline stat (which drives the target) covers the mass of simple, quickly-resolved post; the "several months" experience is what happens once your letter falls into a queue for anything requiring actual casework — enquiries, disputes, complex repayments.

HMRC doesn't publish a clean average/median turnaround time across all correspondence types in its regular statistics, which is part of why the gap between the headline % and lived experience is so wide. If you want, I can dig further into whether there's a published median/mean figure (rather than just % hitting the 15-day target) for a specific type of correspondence you're dealing with."

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Timing Is The Key To Successful Tax Planning

2026-08-20T12:48:01.606+01:00

Good to see Harry and Meghan achieve 6 full tax years of non-UK residency to manage the “temporary non-resident” rules for capital gains tax 😬

They have clearly had some good tax advice and the timing of their move back to the UK is immaculate 👌https://t.co/a8koinBHLK
— Nimesh Shah (@nimshah14) August 20, 2026

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Heads Up HMRC!

2026-08-17T16:12:00.708+01:00

I know you let Rayner off, but still have a looksy eh?

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HMRC's Four Day Week

2026-08-15T16:48:05.527+01:00

HMRC’s Whitehall HQ Barely a Fifth Full on Fridays – While They Demand You File On Time And Answer Every Letter

Whilst we are still stuck in the real world of Monday-to-Friday graft answering HMRC’s endless demands, their own staff treat Fridays like a national holiday.

New figures obtained by Guido Fawkes’ FOI Unit reveal the glorious reality of HMRC’s flagship headquarters at 100 Parliament Street. On working Fridays between April 2025 and March 2026, the place was barely a fifth full. Average Monday-to-Thursday attendance was 358 people. On Fridays it plunged roughly 43% lower. The best Friday of the entire year managed just 264 bodies — still well below a normal weekday.

HMRC helpfully reduced desk capacity from 516 to 391 in 2025. Even with fewer desks, Monday-to-Thursday attendance averaged a respectable 89%. Fridays? A pathetic 50%. Half the desks empty. Taxmen sticking their feet up, doing the laundry, or working from the sofa while the rest of us keep the economy going.

And yet the official line remains pure gold: “We expect all office-based colleagues to spend at least 60% of their working time in an HMRC office.” Hybrid working, they claim, helps them “attract and retain the talent we need to deliver for our customers.”

Deliver for customers?

The same customers who wait an hour on hold, get hung up on deadline day, wait years for refunds, and face quarterly MTD reporting while HMRC’s own office stands half-empty every Friday?

This is the department that lectures the self-employed about digital record-keeping, demands perfect compliance, and sends debt collectors after pensioners for £47. Meanwhile their own staff treat Fridays as optional and the building looks like a ghost town.

Four-day week creeping in by the back door? Looks that way. Just don’t expect any four-day week for the rest of us when the next brown envelope arrives.

Tax does have to be taxing.

But when HMRC’s own flagship HQ is barely a fifth full on Fridays while they insist on 60% attendance and still can’t deliver basic service? That’s not taxing — that’s institutional hypocrisy with empty desks as the evidence.

Work from home on Fridays by all means, lads. Just stop pretending you’re delivering world-class customer service while the lights are off.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC to Automatically Sign Up MTD Taxpayers From September

2026-08-12T16:31:28.544+01:00

HMRC to Automatically Sign Up MTD Taxpayers From September – Because Voluntary Compliance Was Too Soft

Just when you thought Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) couldn’t get any more heavy-handed, HMRC has decided to stop asking nicely.

From September, the taxman will start automatically signing up eligible taxpayers for MTD. No more polite invitations. No more “please join when you’re ready”. If your qualifying income (self-employment and/or property) is over the threshold, they’ll just enrol you whether you like it or not.

This is the same department that still can’t answer the phone without putting you through an hour of hold music, takes years to process refunds, and harasses 93-year-old terminally ill veterans over returns they’ve already filed. Yet somehow they’ve found the time and resources to force every eligible person into their digital quarterly reporting regime.

Let’s remind ourselves what this actually means:

You’ll need compatible software
You’ll have to keep digital records all year
You’ll submit quarterly updates instead of one annual return
Miss a deadline and the new penalty points system starts ticking
All while HMRC’s own systems remain a creaking, unreliable mess

The soft landing and voluntary period were always a mirage. Now the gloves are off. From September they’ll start dragging people in automatically so that by April 2027 (and the lower £30k threshold) the net is fully cast.

This is classic HMRC: demand more data, more frequency, more compliance from you, while their own customer service, processing times and basic competence remain an absolute shambles. They’re happy to use AI and force automation on accountants, but when it comes to their own digital services they still can’t get the basics right.

Tax does have to be taxing.

But automatically signing people up to quarterly digital reporting while the department itself remains incapable of answering a simple phone call or processing a refund in under two years? That’s not taxing — that’s digital dictatorship dressed up as modernisation.

Get ready. The quarterly grind is coming whether you want it or not.

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Rayner's Penalty Free Tax Debacle

2026-08-10T11:22:50.839+01:00

HMRC CEO John-Paul Marks previously served as Principal Private Secretary to Yvette Cooper, a senior Labour politician.

Marks was appointed HMRC chief executive in April 2025, after leading the Scottish Government civil service.

He oversaw the decision clearing Rayner of deliberate tax avoidance or carelessness on the £40k of underpaid stamp duty for her Hove flat, resulting in payment of the underpaid tax but no penalty.

Rayner resigned as Deputy PM in September 2025 over the stamp duty issue, but described the HMRC outcome as exoneration.

I am sure that Marks did not personally intervene in this case. However, with anything like this it is not just a matter of being impartial and honest, it is also important that you appear to be impartial and honest.

Otherwise, people will never trust you to be impartial and honest!

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DEI Must Die! - Senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Consultant £58K - £72K

2026-08-06T16:17:09.319+01:00

My thanks to a loyal reader who sent me this job advert for a non job of DEI Consultant in HMRC, up to £72K.

Why the hell are taxpayers footing the bill for these absurd roles that add zero value to the organisation?

Senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Consultant

HM Revenue and Customs

Apply before 11:55 pm on Tuesday 18th August 2026

Return to search results

Details

Reference number

473109

Salary

£58,541 - £72,711

National min £58,541 - max £64,624

London min £65,869 - max £72,711

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Job grade

Grade 7

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

HMRC - PPG UBS & Customer Experience

Type of role

Human Resources

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Number of jobs available

Location

Belfast Regional Centre - Erskine House

Birmingham Regional Centre - Arena Central

Bristol Regional Centre - 3 Glass Wharf

Cardiff Regional Centre - Ty William Morgan

Edinburgh Regional Centre - Queen Elizabeth House

Glasgow Regional Centre - Atlantic Square

Leeds Regional Centre - Wellington Place

Liverpool Regional Centre - Water Street

Manchester Regional Centre - Three New Bailey

Newcastle Upon Tyne - Benton Park View

Nottingham Regional Centre - Unity Square

Stratford Regional Centre - Westfield Avenue

Croydon - Ruskin Square

Please note that due to workforce controls, Newcastle is only available to existing HMRC staff in this location.

About the job

Job summary

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.

Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.

Join HMRC’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team and play a key role in shaping an inclusive and respectful workplace that reflects the communities we serve. The EDI team provides expert advice, insight and challenge across a wide range of people, policy and organisational priorities, helping senior leaders make informed decisions that support inclusion, improve colleague experience and meet our legal obligations.

As an EDI Senior Consultant, you will be a trusted adviser to senior leaders, providing expertise on equality, diversity and inclusion issues and leading the delivery of strategic EDI priorities. You will work across organisational boundaries, engaging with HR colleagues, business areas, Staff Diversity Networks and senior stakeholders to influence decision-making, manage complex issues and drive improvement. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who combines strong EDI knowledge with sound judgement, political awareness and the ability to turn complex information into clear, practical advice.

Job description

As an EDI Senior Consultant, you will provide strategic leadership, expert advice and delivery support across a broad portfolio of equality, diversity and inclusion activity. Working in a fast-paced and often complex environment, you will help senior leaders understand EDI risks, opportunities and impacts, ensuring that inclusion considerations are effectively embedded into decision-making and organisational priorities.

You will lead and oversee multiple workstreams, balancing competing priorities while maintaining a focus on delivering high-quality outcomes.

The role requires strong collaboration across a diverse stakeholder landscape, including senior leaders, HR colleagues, policy teams, operational business areas and Staff Diversity Networks. You will build trusted relationships and use your influencing skills to support positive and sustainable change.

A key aspect of the role is providing high-quality written and verbal advice. You will prepare briefings, reports, governance papers and recommendations for senior audiences, translating complex information into clear, balanced and actionable insights. You will also use data, evidence and stakeholder feedback to identify emerging issues, assess risks and inform strategic decision-making.

The successful candidate will provide leadership and support to team members, helping to create an inclusive and high-performing team environment while ensuring delivery remains aligned to departmental priorities.

Person specification

Key Responsibilities

Provide expert advice and challenge on equality, diversity and inclusion matters, supporting senior leaders to make informed and inclusive decisions.
Lead the delivery of EDI priorities, projects and improvement initiatives aligned to departmental objectives and legal obligations.
Build and maintain effective relationships with senior stakeholders, HR colleagues, business areas and Staff Diversity Networks.
Produce high-quality briefings, reports and governance papers for Director and Deputy Director-level audiences.
Use data, evidence and insight to identify risks, opportunities and recommendations that support inclusion and organisational performance.
Manage and oversee multiple workstreams, ensuring quality delivery in a changing and sometimes ambiguous environment.
Lead, support and develop team members, fostering an inclusive and collaborative team culture.
Represent the EDI team at governance forums, working groups and stakeholder meetings as required.

Essential Criteria

Knowledge of equality- diversity and inclusion. EDI equality legislation and the protected characteristics. Experience of working in an EDI role with a clear understanding of the wider context.
Strong organisational and planning skills with ability to manage and progress multiple pieces of work at once providing oversight to work being led by your team members and prioritising in response to changing priorities.
Strong stakeholder engagement skills able to work in partnership with experience of building productive relationships.
Possess excellent interpersonal written and oral communication skills with an ability to communicate clearly and succinctly and with experience of writing for formal governance.
High levels of personal resilience including the ability to adapt quickly to new demands and work flexibly to deliver quality outcomes at pace and in ambiguous contexts.
Excellent judgement- awareness and appropriate handling of sensitive and often contentious topics maintaining impartiality and balance.
Line management experience.

Desirable Criteria

Experience of working within government, HR, people strategy or policy environments.
Experience of developing or reviewing Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs).
Experience of analysing workforce data and translating findings into strategic recommendations.
Experience of working with trade unions, staff networks or employee representative groups.
Experience of briefing or advising Executive Committee, Director or Deputy Director-level stakeholders.
Professional qualification or accreditation relevant to EDI, HR, organisational development or leadership.

Further Location Information

Please ensure that you only apply for a location that you are willing and able to work from, as we will only make one offer of employment. Any additional notes included in a ‘Further Location Preferences (optional)’ field within the application form, will not be considered. Please be aware that you cannot change your location preference after submitting your application.

Office closures

For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

If your location preference is for the following site, it’s important to note that this is not a long-term site for HMRC and we will require you to move to a new building in the future, subject to our location strategy and the applicable employee policies at that time.

The site is:

Benton Park View, Newcastle - moving to Pilgrims Quarter, Newcastle

You will be given more information about what this means at job offer stage.

Leeds Locations

Moves Adjustment Payment will be available for this role, provided the successful applicant is a current HMRC colleague in Bradford and meets the eligibility requirements outlined in the HMRC’s Moves Adjustment Payment guidance.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Making Effective Decisions
Delivering at Pace
Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,541, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £16,959 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues’ Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
Family friendly policies.
Personal support.
Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it’s really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:

A name-blind CV including your job history and previous experiences.
A 750-word Personal Statement evidencing your suitability for the role, focussing on the Person Specification and how you meet the Essential Criteria.
Separate 250-word statements on the Behaviours listed - Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace and Leadership.

Please complete a separate statement (Max 250 words) for the Desirable Criteria where applicable. This is not essential for the role but may be considered by the vacancy-holder where candidates have the same scores at interview.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form

Sift

In the event of a large number of applications being received, an initial sift may be held on the CV and Personal Statement.

At full sift your CV, Personal Statement and all Behaviour statements will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Interview

During the panel interview, you will be assessed on the Behaviours listed and Experience, where you will be required to complete a written exercise.

The exercise assesses whether candidates can turn complex, incomplete and politically sensitive information into clear advice for senior decision-makers. Candidates will have 1hr 45mins to review a briefing pack and produce a Director briefing pack of no more than 2 A4 pages. Exercise materials will be provided at start of exercise.

It is intended to test practical Grade 7 EDI consultancy capability rather than recall of EDI theory alone.

The exercise will be invigilated via Teams where you will be expected to have your camera on and share your screen. Once completed there will be a 15 minute interval before commencing the panel led interview which will be approximately 45 minutes.

Interviews will also take place via Teams. Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. Mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we may not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, or have withdrawn yourself in error and need your application reinstated whilst the campaign is still live, please contact us via: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk – Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]’

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.

Exceptionally, candidates who are not successful at this grade may be considered for appointment to similar roles at a lower grade where the eligibility criteria are met. If this applies, we will contact you directly.

Sponsorship

We have assessed this role against both Home Office and HMRC criteria and we are unable to offer sponsorship for a Skilled Worker Visa. This means the vacancy is not open to applicants who require visa sponsorship.

The HMRC app can help you with your application

The HMRC app can provide you with your past 5 years' employment history, making the process of filling in your application quicker and easier.

If successful in your application, you will need your National Insurance number for the onboarding process.

Download the HMRC app now and save your National Insurance number to your digital phone wallet.

How to download the HMRC app and sign up for an account

Download the free HMRC app from the App Store or Google Play store.

If you have an HMRC online account already, sign straight in using your ID and password. If not, you can prove your identity by answering some questions or providing your photo ID.

You’ll then be able to access the app quickly and easily by signing in using a 6-digit PIN, your fingerprint, or facial recognition.

You can find guidance for technical issues on GOV.UK: Technical support with HMRC online services.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Merit List

After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.

Hybrid working at HMRC

HMRC is an office-based organisation, and colleagues are expected to spend 60% of their working time in the office. Our offices provide opportunity for interaction, collaboration which aids learning and development and a sense of community. Where the role allows it, and where the home environment is suitable, colleagues can work from home for up to 2 days a week, averaged over a calendar month (or a proportionate amount of time for colleagues who work less than full time).

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact the UBS Recruitment Team via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Technical Support

If you are experiencing problems that cannot be resolved by our ‘help’ section, then technical support is available. You will receive a reply in 2 working days.

Important information for existing HMRC Contractual Homeworkers

This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need. Please consider the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you can travel to.

Terms and Conditions

Current Civil Servants (all contract types) will need to ensure that they are still employed as a Civil Servant on or beyond the start date for the post. If their contract ends (for example due to the end of Fixed Term Appointment contract or resignation) at any point during the application process for the advertised role, they will no longer be eligible and may be withdrawn.

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

For more Information for people applying for, or thinking of applying for, roles at HM Revenue and Customs, please see link: Working for HMRC: information for applicants - GOV.UK.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Eligibility

This vacancy is open to all Civil Service employees and employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) who were appointed on merit following a fair and open competition; or were appointed to a permanent post through an exception in the Civil Service Commissioners' rules.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Name : Julie Campbell
Email : julie.campbell2@hmrc.gov.uk
Telephone : 03000519318

Recruitment team

Email : unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of the Recruitment Principles.

In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via ubsrecruitmentcomplaints@hmrc.gov.uk. Please note that we do not accept complaints or appeals regarding scoring of outcomes of campaigns, unless candidates can provide clear evidence that the campaign did not follow the Recruitment Principles.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Black Market In Cigarettes Flourishing

2026-08-04T15:39:14.256+01:00

As per Guido:

"The illegal tobacco trade is rife in Britain. This week a Romford shop was shuttered for after officers uncovered an £8,000 stash, traders in Grimsby were found with £12,500 worth of illicit stock and three stores in the North East selling illicit tobacco and illegal vapes have been closed down by Sunderland City Council. Nationally, Operation CeCe has stripped 33 million illegal cigarettes and 800kg of hand-rolling tobacco from shelves in the last year, with a street value of nearly £24 million…
Yet HMRC claims the black market is shrinking. Its latest estimates put the tobacco tax gap at just 14.2% in 2024/25, supposedly the latest step in a two-decade decline. HMRC’s own methodology admits the 2024/25 figures aren’t measured at all – they’re projections, produced because of incomplete data and resource constraints. The way HMRC defines the ‘tax gap’ is essentially an educated guess. It’s about as scientific as asking someone how many pints they have in a week…
There’s one easy way to work it out. Cancer Research UK estimates smokers got through 28 billion cigarettes in 2024, while HMRC records show only 14 billion cigarettes were cleared for legal sale in the same period. That means around 14 billion missing cigarettes and billions of pounds in Exchequer revenue going straight into the pockets of organised crime. A recent UCL study found 23.1% of smokers in 2025 had bought illicit cigarettes in the last six months, up from 12.2% in 2023. Test purchasing found 54% of independent retailers visited in Makerfield are selling illegal tobacco. If more than half the corner shops in Burnham’s own backyard are flogging illicit fags, HMRC’s estimate is up in smoke…"

This is what happens when governments overtax a product or service, people will use the black market!

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HMRC Trainee Bags £155k After “Shocking” Bullying and Discrimination

2026-07-31T17:01:06.850+01:00

HMRC Trainee Bags £155k After “Shocking” Bullying and Discrimination – While They Lecture Us On DEI

While HMRC preaches diversity, equity, and inclusion like it’s the new gospel, it turns out their own workplace is a masterclass in the exact opposite.

A tribunal has just slammed the tax authority for its “shocking” conduct in a case involving a trainee who suffered mental health issues. The employer yes, HMRC, failed to make reasonable adjustments, subjected the poor sod to systemic bullying and discrimination, and has now been ordered to cough up £155,000 in compensation.

£155,000. That’s a lot of taxpayer money going to fix HMRC’s own toxic workplace failures. The same outfit that harasses 93-year-old veterans, takes eight years on investigations, and can’t answer the bloody phone is apparently so bad at looking after its own staff that a tribunal called it shocking.

And the irony? HMRC loves banging on about DEI. They’ve got champions, training programmes, targets, the whole rainbow-wrapped package. Yet when it comes to basic reasonable adjustments for mental health, something they demand businesses do properly, they cock it up so badly it costs the public purse six figures.

This is peak public sector hypocrisy. Obsessed with ticking diversity boxes on paper while creating a bullying culture that destroys people. Then when they get caught, the compensation comes straight out of your pocket; the same pocket they’re busy emptying with stealth taxes, frozen thresholds, and MTD quarterly hell.

Meanwhile, the rest of us get penalty points for late filings, debt collectors for trivial amounts, and endless delays on legitimate refunds. But hey, at least their trainee got a massive payout, right?

Tax does have to be taxing.

But when HMRC preaches DEI while bullying its own staff into a tribunal victory worth £155k, and we foot the bill? That’s not taxing, that’s institutional failure dressed up as virtue-signalling.

Well done on the payout. The rest of us will just keep paying for it.

Why on earth didn't they save some taxpayer money, and settle out of court?

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Review Clears MP James McMurdock

2026-07-29T12:15:22.689+01:00

All of you long-suffering taxpayers still waiting years for your own refunds, dodging phantom penalties, or getting chased for returns you’ve already filed.

Spare a wry chuckle for James McMurdock, the MP who’s just had his tax affairs given the full once-over by HMRC; and walked away not only cleared, but with a nice little refund in his pocket.

Mr McMurdock, the MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, faced intense media and public scrutiny over the past year regarding his former businesses. This included questions around past company activities and eligibility for COVID-era Bounce Back Loans. As part of this process, his tax affairs and business records underwent examination by HMRC.

In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), the MP described the outcome as vindication:

"The letter I recently received from HMRC confirmed, after their careful review, that they, in fact, owed me a refund."

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Hypocritical Wanker Alert

2026-07-23T11:19:48.991+01:00

Celebrity antisemite Lineker, along with some other millionaires, is calling for HMRC to make them pay more tax.

All very noble you might think, except for the fact that a few years ago Lineker went into battle against a tax bill from HMRC.

Lineker, the former England footballer and Match of the Day presenter, operated as a freelancer through his partnership, Gary Lineker Media (GLM). HMRC pursued him for around £4.9 million in alleged unpaid income tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC) for work with the BBC and BT Sport between 2013–2014 and 2017–2018.

HMRC argued that he should be treated as an employee under IR35 (off-payroll working rules), meaning his partnership structure was an "intermediary" and he owed extra tax as if employed directly by the broadcasters. Lineker maintained he was a genuine freelancer who had paid all appropriate taxes.

Outcome

In March 2023, the First-tier Tribunal ruled decisively in Lineker’s favour. Judge John Brooks found that because Lineker had direct contracts with the BBC and BT Sport (not routed through a qualifying intermediary in the way IR35 requires), the IR35 rules "do not, and cannot as a matter of law, apply." The tribunal set aside HMRC’s demands.
HMRC appealed but withdrew the appeal in late 2024, shortly before an Upper Tribunal hearing, and settled the case.

Result: Lineker avoided the £4.9m bill. He confirmed he had not failed to pay any taxes or NIC due to IR35. The case turned on a technical contractual point rather than a full employment status test.

This was a notable win for Lineker after a multi-year fight and highlighted complexities in IR35 application for high-profile freelancers with direct client relationships.

Anyhoo, if he and his buddies want to pay more tax there is nothing stopping them:

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HMRC Tax Investigations Taking Up To Eight Bloody Years

2026-07-19T11:38:18.462+01:00

HMRC Tax Investigations Taking Up To Eight Bloody Years – MPs Slam the Taxman’s Endless Dithering

Still waiting for HMRC to get their act together?

While the taxman loves slapping you with automatic penalties for filing a day late, it turns out their own investigations can drag on for the best part of a decade.

The Public Accounts Committee has rightly slammed HMRC for cases taking up to eight years to resolve. Eight years! That’s not an investigation, that’s a slow-motion torture session for the poor sods stuck in limbo. Businesses left hanging, cashflow destroyed, growth choked, while HMRC faffs about “gathering evidence” at a pace that would make a snail look speedy.

MPs are warning that the public is being left completely in the dark about whether these long-running disputes are being settled fairly. No transparency, no accountability, just endless uncertainty. Perfect.

This is the same shambolic outfit that:

Can’t answer the phone without putting you through an hour of Vivaldi
Harasses 93-year-old terminally ill veterans over returns they’ve already filed
Spends £186 million to recover £44 million on the Loan Charge
Forces quarterly MTD reporting while their own systems remain a joke

Yet when it comes to their own enquiries (especially the big, complex ones involving serious money) they’re happy to let cases rumble on for years. Meanwhile, you’re expected to respond to their information requests in days or face penalties.

The PAC is urging HMRC to get a grip and speed things up. About bloody time someone said it. These delays aren’t just inconvenient, they’re damaging real businesses, destroying livelihoods, and eroding any remaining trust in the system.

Tax does have to be taxing.

But leaving people and companies in investigation hell for up to eight years while demanding instant compliance from everyone else? That’s not taxing, that’s bureaucratic sadism and a national disgrace.

Sort it out, HMRC. Or better yet, stop starting so many enquiries you can’t finish in a reasonable timeframe.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC’s Annual Report 2025/26

2026-07-14T11:57:20.323+01:00

HMRC’s Annual Report 2025/26: Record Tax Haul, Shiny Digital Stats, But The Same Old Customer Service Shambles

HMRC has just dropped its 329-page annual report for 2025/26, and true to form, they’re out there blowing their own trumpet while the rest of us choke on the reality.

They collected a whopping £966.4 billion in tax — that’s £90.4 billion more than the previous year. Compliance yield smashed through £50 billion for the first time. Digital interactions are up to 78%. They’ve hired more compliance officers. Everything’s going swimmingly, right?

Bollocks!

Scratch beneath the glossy headlines and the strains are bleeding through everywhere. Yes, they’re raking in more cash (largely thanks to Reeves’ stealth taxes, frozen thresholds, and employer NI hikes) but the basics that actually matter to real people remain an absolute disgrace.

Customer service? Still in the toilet. They only managed to answer 85.1% of calls (one in seven went unanswered), with average wait times of over 12 minutes. They’re proudly pushing everyone towards webchats and the “highly successful” HMRC app while real human help remains a distant dream. This is the same department that hangs up on Self Assessment deadline day and harasses 93-year-old terminally ill veterans.

Tax debt sits at £44.7 billion. They’re resolving more of it, sure, but it’s still a monumental pile of unpaid tax while they chase pensioners for peanuts. The tax gap? Still hovering around £60 billion. Small businesses (the ones actually trying to grow) remain the biggest contributors to the gap — funny how that works when HMRC makes compliance such a nightmare.

R&D tax relief errors and fraud are so bad the accounts had to be qualified again. Yet they’re happy to sit on legitimate startup R&D claims for months, leaving businesses £95k out of pocket.

The transformation roadmap? More MTD misery, more AI toys (£175m with Quantexa), more digital-first bullshit while the phone lines stay broken and trust collapses. Only 70% of small businesses trust HMRC. For individuals it’s even worse, over half don’t trust them at all.

This report perfectly exposes the HMRC delusion: they’re getting better at squeezing more tax out of us, but utterly failing at basic service, fairness, and competence.

Tax does have to be taxing.

But when HMRC crows about record revenues and digital progress while the public endures endless delays, incompetence, and contempt? That’s not taxing — that’s institutional arrogance funded by your money.

Well done on the big numbers, lads. Now try answering the bloody phone.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Monthly Tax Bills For The Self Employed - A Disaster Waiting To Happen!

2026-07-13T16:58:40.107+01:00

Labour is examining plans which would require self‑employed workers and landlords to pay tax every month from April 2030, in a major shift to how millions manage their finances.

Under the proposals, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) would calculate monthly payments using an individual’s previous year’s tax return.

The reforms are expected to apply only to those earning above a threshold that has not yet been set.

This will be a monumental clusterfuck!

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Over 580,000 Not Yet Signed Up To MTD

2026-07-09T11:59:45.361+01:00

Over 580,000 self-employed workers and landlords have yet to sign up for HMRC's Making Tax Digital for Income Tax scheme, despite less than a month remaining before the August 7 registration deadline.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that of the 864,000 people required to register for the scheme by April 6 this year, only 282,637 had signed up by May 20.

The figures, obtained by international accountancy firm Azets and confirmed by HMRC, show that around two-thirds of those required to join the new digital tax system had not yet registered when the data was compiled.

Good luck everyone!

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Is Shite

HMRC, PCS and The 10% Pay Demand - Losing Touch With Reality

HMRC, PCS and the 10% Pay Demand: Is the Civil Service Losing Touch with Reality?

Ten per cent more pay. One day less work. Who picks up the bill?

HMRC is not an ordinary employer

The four-day week: a right, or a reward to be earned?

The public-sector pay problem cannot be ignored — but neither can affordability

Why HMRC should be concerned now

The bottom line: demands are easy; paying for them is harder

HMRC Trainee Wins £16,000 - Tribunal Finds ‘Kill Russians’ Allegations Were Invented

HMRC’s Inability To Part With Capgem

HMRC Steps Up Scrutiny of UK Billionaires with Dedicated Compliance Managers

HMRC’s Four Day Week Bonanza

Hypocritical Wankers!

Blinkin' Flip!

How To Spot Money Laundering - Lesson 1

£30 Off Your Tax Bill For 30 Minute Call Delay

HMRC's Army of Home Inspectors

HMRC Call Waiting Times and Letter Response Times

Timing Is The Key To Successful Tax Planning

Heads Up HMRC!

HMRC's Four Day Week

HMRC to Automatically Sign Up MTD Taxpayers From September

Rayner's Penalty Free Tax Debacle

DEI Must Die! - Senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Consultant £58K - £72K

Senior Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Consultant

Details

Reference number

Salary

Job grade

Contract type

Business area

Type of role

Working pattern

Number of jobs available

Contents

Location

About the job

Job summary

Job description

Person specification

Behaviours

Benefits

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Selection process details

Security

Nationality requirements

Eligibility

Working for the Civil Service

Diversity and Inclusion

Apply and further information

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Recruitment team

Further information

Black Market In Cigarettes Flourishing

HMRC Trainee Bags £155k After “Shocking” Bullying and Discrimination

HMRC Review Clears MP James McMurdock

Hypocritical Wanker Alert

Outcome

HMRC Tax Investigations Taking Up To Eight Bloody Years

HMRC’s Annual Report 2025/26

Monthly Tax Bills For The Self Employed - A Disaster Waiting To Happen!

Over 580,000 Not Yet Signed Up To MTD