Business is booming.

HMRC chief insists new data grab will bring taxpayer benefits

36


HM Revenue & Customs could have helped more self-employed people gain quicker access to pandemic support funds if it had been able to collect data under its Making Tax Digital programme, its chief executive said.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which compensated employers for furloughed workers, was up and running by April 2020, four weeks after the first lockdown announcement. But self-employed people had to wait a further month before the launch of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), which helped about 2.7m to stay afloat during the pandemic.

Even then, up to 3m self-employed people were not eligible to claim funds under the scheme. Many of these were those who had not filed a tax return the previous tax year, because they had just started working for themselves when the pandemic struck. That made it difficult for HMRC to verify their earnings.

Jim Harra, HMRC chief executive, told the Financial Times the tax authority could have responded quicker to the needs of the self-employed if it had had more real-time information on their income, as it has for employees.

“Making Tax Digital for self-assessment means that businesses will be providing us with data about their business income much more frequently than they have been in the past, much more in real time,” Harra said. “And yes, I think if we’d had that data, we could have helped more people.”

Through its Making Tax Digital (MTD) programme, the government aims to make the UK one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world. It requires businesses and individuals to keep digital records and report their income to HMRC every quarter. It has already been rolled out to some VAT-paying businesses, with all VAT businesses required to sign up by April 2022.

MTD was due to be further expanded to around 4.3m self-employed people and small businesses, using self-assessment, in April 2023. However, the launch was pushed back by a year after professional bodies and business groups warned people were not yet prepared for the changes.

Harra said that in his position as a tax administrator he wished he could move faster on the strategy. But it was also important to “get it right” and give people and businesses more time if they needed it, he added.

HMRC digs deep into your data: the tax authority will extend trawl of transaction flows to boost efficiency — and hunt for evaders. Read it here

Addressing concerns over data privacy, he said HMRC’s push for more taxpayer data should be seen as an opportunity to make the tax system simpler and easier to use for millions.

“People often think of HMRC having data meaning ‘oh right, they’re going to sort of snoop on me and try and catch me’, he said. “But actually, I think, what we did during the pandemic on support, we can equally do on the tax system. We can use real time data to help people as well, make their lives easier.”

He acknowledged that the public still needed to be persuaded about that. “We’ve got to convince people,” he said.

HMRC has data problems of its own. Its annual report, published this month, revealed it considers its data protection compliance as a “red” risk — the highest level.

Asked how people could trust HMRC with their data if the tax office was itself concerned about data security, Harra said the government was aware of the issue and had provided funding to improve HMRC’s IT systems. Around £1bn was approved by chancellor Rishi Sunak in his recent spending review to improve HMRC’s IT and data security over the next parliament.

“We have an extremely low appetite for any risk in relation to our customer data,” Harra added. “It’s just something we’re constantly vigilant about.”



Source link

36 Comments
  1. Ffyush says

    famvir 500mg uk – order famvir for sale buy valaciclovir paypal

  2. Cllwpk says

    digoxin where to buy – buy labetalol without prescription purchase lasix online cheap

  3. Dcdvfn says

    hydrochlorothiazide for sale – felodipine 5mg pills cost zebeta 5mg

  4. Xybbvx says

    order lopressor 50mg pill – order nifedipine 30mg without prescription cheap adalat 10mg

  5. Pqythz says

    order generic nitroglycerin – nitroglycerin generic oral valsartan 80mg

  6. Oimxus says

    rosuvastatin online tick – caduet online bathroom caduet flood

  7. Fkjiim says

    zocor jug – atorvastatin 80mg cost atorvastatin slap

  8. Egrfxy says

    buy viagra professional express – viagra professional online vain levitra oral jelly yesterday

  9. Njakho says

    priligy duchess – dapoxetine college cialis with dapoxetine conduct

  10. Ikzusr says

    cenforce online rent – kamagra online power brand viagra pills thank

  11. Chlsuy says

    brand cialis therefore – brand levitra jug penisole wizard

  12. Uunafp says

    cialis soft tabs imp – valif pills hoarse viagra oral jelly online board

  13. Bbbper says

    brand cialis idea – penisole hunter penisole nail

  14. Chpbtq says

    cialis soft tabs pills mock – cialis soft tabs online meat viagra oral jelly yesterday

  15. Xknlss says

    cenforce online develop – tadalis rich brand viagra online neither

  16. Ebsbwm says

    acne medication honest – acne medication loom acne treatment people

  17. Pzxagb says

    asthma treatment pale – asthma medication cottage asthma treatment shop

  18. Imbjaf says

    uti treatment mist – uti antibiotics price uti medication fantastic

  19. Kzcxte says

    pills for treat prostatitis perhaps – prostatitis treatment fill prostatitis pills blaze

  20. Ffosbj says

    claritin pills relax – loratadine medication worship loratadine odd

  21. Rbcpca says

    valacyclovir online fountain – valacyclovir scent valacyclovir pills yourself

  22. Isvsuf says

    dapoxetine puzzle – priligy salt dapoxetine career

  23. Kloyby says

    claritin consider – loratadine medication monday claritin respect

  24. Iqarsp says

    ascorbic acid sometime – ascorbic acid hasty ascorbic acid chimney

  25. Ofxiim says

    promethazine amuse – promethazine grateful promethazine departure

  26. Hfpxlg says

    clarithromycin pills fork – albendazole narrow cytotec develop

  27. Hxfakq says

    florinef pills preserve – esomeprazole friend prevacid pills accord

  28. Uxnndj says

    buy aciphex for sale – domperidone price buy motilium generic

  29. Klikje says

    buy bisacodyl generic – buy ditropan 2.5mg generic liv52 online order

  30. Mionbn says

    order hydroquinone creams – purchase zovirax without prescription dydrogesterone for sale online

  31. Xwvvlp says

    buy cotrimoxazole paypal – bactrim drug buy tobrex 10mg

  32. Xvxjgt says

    order griseofulvin for sale – fulvicin online buy buy gemfibrozil 300 mg without prescription

  33. Wjkozd says

    forxiga 10mg brand – buy forxiga paypal brand precose

  34. Izetgv says

    buy dimenhydrinate 50 mg without prescription – prasugrel 10mg canada risedronate drug

  35. Uknxxz says

    order enalapril 5mg pills – how to buy xalatan purchase zovirax eye drops

  36. canadian drug store online says
Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.