HMRC’s drive to encourage tax returns to be completed online is in line with the government’s plans to expand its digital services and has been taken up by 11.5million a year, helping to cut processing, storage, stationary and postal costs.
The NAO report, however, has found that HMRC’s savings are 14% lower than the department predicted and its raised concerns over whether the benefits are being maximised, saying: “HMRC does not have sufficient understanding of the relative costs it incurs in online filing compared to filing of paper returns or of the costs and benefits to customers.
“For these reasons it is not possible to conclude whether benefits are being maximised and value for money has been achieved. Significant improvement is needed in these areas to drive future development on an informed basis."
Revised figures by the HMRC means the department expects £190 million in cumulative savings to be made by next year, with annual savings of £66 million thereafter; with the programme expected to break even during 2012-2013.
A spokeswoman for HMRC said: "Our online services have enabled, this year alone, a record 6.9 million people to send their self-assessment tax returns to us over the internet.
“In addition, 93% of company returns and over three-quarters of all VAT returns have come in over the internet. In excess of 11 million taxpayers now take advantage of our online services, enjoying many benefits and saving the taxpayer £60 million a year."
If you’d like help with your future tax returns or your businesses tax planning, contact the accountants Cardiff at Harris Lipman.
For more information, please visit www.harris-lipman.co.uk
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( 2.9 / 140 )In a letter to the Chancellor to be published in The Telegraph today, more than 30 of the City’s top business leaders will call on the Government to scrap the 50p tax rate and introduce a £1,000 increase in the tax-free personal allowance.
The writers argue that the cut in tax would attract entrepreneurs to the UK who can help the economy to grow and provide jobs and that the “current turmoil in southern Europe” means that the Government must take “immediate actions” to boost confidence.
Among the signatories are Sir Nigel Rudd, the chairman of BAA, the airports operator; Chris Grigg, the chief executive of British Land; Tony Pidgley, the chairman of Berkeley Group, the house-builder and Harvey McGrath, the chairman of Prudential.
In the letter, the business leaders say: “We would encourage an acceleration of the Government’s commitments on two areas of tax policy: increasing the personal allowance and restoring 40 per cent as the top rate of income tax.
“An early removal of the temporary 50 per cent tax rate would attract wealth generators to the UK and support the entrepreneurs we need to help us grow the economy and provide jobs.”
Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, said yesterday that tax cuts were not currently being planned. “It’s difficult to make tax cuts in an environment where we’re trying to get budget discipline back,” he said.
However, he added: “The Chancellor is looking at all options. I’m not ruling anything out”. Mr Cable also raised the prospect of “Armageddon” in the British banking system in the event of the collapse of the single currency.
An aide to Mr Osborne said last night: “We welcome this contribution from business leaders. We have already increased capital spending above Labour and taken a million people out of tax. We have asked the HMRC to look at the 50p rate and await the report.”
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( 3 / 140 )A new initiative by the Government is set to hand small to medium sized businesses a lifeline.
A week after the Bank of England released data which suggested lending to small businesses had fallen by 5 per cent in August, Prime Minister, David Cameron, has announced the government have made a deal with banks which will see them distribute £95million.
The aim of the latest expansion of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund to help SME’s that currently cannot get money from their banks create and safeguard jobs by investing in capital assets such as machinery.
Mr Cameron said: “I’ve lost count of the number of times people working in our small businesses have told me they just can’t get a loan for that new investment, that new clean room or that extension to their business.
“Often it’s a small investment, maybe just £30,000, that can get those businesses going, create the jobs, kickstart the innovation and exports that we need.
“But these are the very loans that you simply can’t get without personal guarantees, like putting up your house – and even then the banks might say no.
“That’s got to change – and we’re going to use the Regional Growth Fund to help change it.”
The loans will be available from HSBC and the Royal Bank of Scotland, and comes as part of a package which includes a loan from the bank too and ministers are estimating that this latest scheme will help create more than 4,000 jobs and unlock around £500 million of new investment by small to medium enterprises.
If you’d like more information about the Government’s Regional Growth Fund or if you’d like business start up advice, contact the team of accountants London at Harris Lipman today.
For more information, please visit www.harris-lipman.co.uk
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( 3 / 142 )According to data produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) earlier this week, UK manufacturing output increased more than expected in September.
It is the first rise in output in four months and is 0.2 per cent up on August, whereas analysts had expected a rise of only 0.1 per cent. However, the wider measure of industrial output, including oil and gas extraction, remained unchanged in September. The overall figure is 2 per cent up on last year.
The report said that eight of 13 manufacturing sub-sectors showed improvement, with the largest gains being in transportation equipment industries, where the index rose 6.1 per cent.
There were also rises in basic metals and metal products and machinery and equipment. The biggest falls were recorded in the food, drink and tobacco, computer, electronic and optical equipment and chemical and chemical products sectors.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) were pleased with the data and David Kern, their chief economist said: “Seeing the sector remain in positive territory despite difficulties in the eurozone and tough austerity measures in the UK is reassuring”
However, he added the caveat that, “although pessimism about the health of manufacturing is unnecessary, the sector does face difficult challenges and we must reinforce the modest recovery that we are seeing."
And other economists went further with their concerns, as the weak rise in manufacturing, which makes up 10 per cent of the economy, underlined the economy’s continued struggle for growth.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at data company Markit, is concerned that the picture may continue to deteriorate further and said of the figures: “This is a disappointing rate of growth for a sector that was hoped to lead the UK's economic recovery, and growth looks set to weaken further in the final quarter of the year.”
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( 2.9 / 136 )The CBI has cut its forecast for growth next year, predicting that the eurozone crisis will hit the UK but it is confident that the country will narrowly avoid a double dip recession.
The business lobby group has cut its forecast for next year from 2.2 per cent to 1.2 per cent and its forecast for this year from 1.3 per cent to 0.9 per cent, as it expects no growth at all in the final quarter.
However, despite the downward adjustment in forecasts, the group is advising the Government to keep to its deficit cut programme in an effort to protect the UK’s AAA credit rating.
CBI Director General, John Cridland said: "The government must stick to its plans to bring down the deficit to maintain confidence in the UK's public finances and keep the cost of borrowing down.”
In what it calls "Plan A+", the group has recommended new measures to help the economy next year, in particular attracting £200bn of private sector investment into infrastructure over the next five years.
The plan is called A+ to differentiate it from the "Plan B" suggested by opposition MPs and trade unions, who want many of the cuts dropped in favour of a focus on jobs and growth.
Other measures, with an estimated cost of around £500m per year, are aimed at energy-intensive industries such as steel and chemicals, the housing market and youth unemployment, with a credit to cover the first year's national insurance for companies taking on young unemployed people.
"We are highlighting ways that the government can boost the economy, at little extra cost to the exchequer. To unlock private sector investment, kick-start growth and create jobs, we need the government to deal with the roadblocks on planning, energy reforms and in areas like the 4G spectrum auction," Mr Cridland added.
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