12 March 2025
James Murray, Exchequer secretary to the Treasury, has announced a range of changes in the pipeline from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
A huge announcement for payroll agents is the potential of a dedicated escalation process for queries that are taking longer then expected. the press release states:
“As part of this government’s commitment to partner and learn from industry, HMRC will launch a new service to provide an escalation route for agents with Self Assessment and PAYE queries which are over 4 weeks old. A dedicated team of experienced technicians and advisers will adopt a ‘once and done’ approach, taking end-to-end ownership of cases and maintaining regular communication with agents.”
A return to named contacts who will own the query until completed will be a welcome return for many, although this seems to be limited to agents for the time being. It will be interesting to know if there are plans to roll this out to the wider customer base.
Other announcements include:
- Voice biometrics for security checks
- Raising the trading income reporting threshold from £1,000 to £3,000
- Introducing a new simple online service to pay tax owed from trading income
- Increasing the use of securities to avoid ‘phoenixism’ where directors go insolvent to avoid paying taxes owed
- A ‘whistle-blower’ reward scheme for tax avoidance where informants will receive a proportion of the tax take.
You can also see Murray deliver a keynote speech, available to watch on LinkedIn.
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