HMRC gets City’s vote of confidence but change needed
HM REVENUE and Customs (HMRC), despite winning a vote of confidence from the City still needs to make improvements, an influential survey published yesterday found.
After speaking to 22 of the UK’s largest companies, information gathered by law firm Norton Rose found that their relationship with the HMRC was broadly on the right track but that it needed to make changes to the way it deals with disputes.
According to 82 per cent of those surveyed, the new system of having a single point of contact improved HMRC’s services, while 31 per cent said the new risk assessment of taxpayers positively changed the dynamic of the working relationship.
But the City has criticised HMRC for its approach to litigation, after 68 per cent said they felt the tax body was unwilling to settle matters under the current system.
The way HMRC approaches contentious matters changed three years ago in a bid to become more efficient.
An additional 23 per cent of respondents said the change meant that the Revenue has failed to honor previous agreements.
Matthew Hodkin, a tax lawyer at Norton Rose said: “There was general recognition that the Revenue had become more commercially sensitive, and a number of the initiatives it has brought in to ease its relationship with large corporates have been positive.
“Some see [the litigation strategy] as a tool used by HMRC to revert to the working practices that characterised it some years ago,” he added.