C&AG report: HM Revenue and Customs 2011-12 accounts
Published on:HMRC’s progress in stabilising the PAYE service, its performance in managing tax debt; and its progress in tackling tax credit overpayment.
HMRC’s progress in stabilising the PAYE service, its performance in managing tax debt; and its progress in tackling tax credit overpayment.
Gareth Davies uses the NAO’s insights to outline what government needs to do to make public money work harder
In 2011-12 HMRC maintained its performance while reducing staff and spending but it is too early to tell what the long-term impact of cost reduction will be.
A major HMRC programme to improve the way it tackles evasion delivered £4.32 billion of additional tax yield, reduced staff numbers and improved compliance work. However the Department is not yet exploiting the full potential of its new systems.
There are serious risks to HMRC’s business if the programme to replace the Aspire contract fails to meet its objectives by June 2017, when the contract ends.
HMRC’s renewed strategy for dealing with alcohol duty fraud is a significant improvement on the previous strategy. However, the Department needs a reliable estimate of the tax gaps for beer and wine; and to tackle successfully the illicit diversion of duty-unpaid alcohol back into the UK market.
The programme to increase online filing of tax returns has made significant progress, but HMRC needs a better understanding of the benefits and costs to customers and how its online filing costs compare to those for paper returns.
HM Revenue and Customs will have to make sure its staff have the right skills if the Department is to succeed in cutting its running costs by 25 per cent by 2014-2015 and bringing in each year an extra £7 billion of tax revenue.
This Departmental Overview is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on HM Revenue & Customs during 2010-2011.
HMRC faces a significant challenge in securing a £1.6 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.
The NAO has published its report on the 2010-11 accounts of HM Revenue and Customs.
As part of the Freedom of Information Publication Scheme, we have gathered the key information about who we are and what we do.
Despite some welcome improvements, HMRC’s performance in answering calls from the public is poor value for money.
HMRC’s civil investigations directorates, which examine serious cases of suspected tax evasion, have generated increasing returns from their work, while reducing resources. However, there is scope for them to achieve more.
HMRC might be able to increase tax revenues by providing more support to professional tax agents, third parties paid by taxpayers to act on their behalf in their dealings with the Department.
The NAO has published its report on the 2009-10 accounts of HM Revenue and Customs.
PaceSetter has led to productivity improvements and may have contributed to greater staff engagement. However, the extent to which overall efficiency has improved is not clear; and some key principles of process improvement are not yet being applied strategically across the entire organisation.
This short guide is one of 17 we have produced covering our work on each major government department. It summarises our work on HM Revenue & Customs during the last Parliament.
HM Revenue and Customs’ performance in answering telephone calls in 2008-09 was well below its own targets and industry standards, the National Audit Office has reported today. In its Customer Contact Directorate, which answers 95 per cent of calls to the Department’s contact centres, only 57 per cent of 103 million call attempts were answered, compared […]
Older people are a growing group for HM Revenue & Customs and significant numbers pay too much or too little tax, according to a report released today by the National Audit Office. Errors occur because many people’s tax affairs become more complicated when they reach pension age and HMRC’s systems do not cope well with […]