THEN I WAS ABLE TO RELAX AND BECOME ONE OF THOSE SPEAKING BORES. Vicky Johnson—8
‘EVERY ROLE IN HMRC IS A COMPLIANCE ROLE’. THIS HAS BEEN ARC’S CONSISTENT MESSAGE FOR OVER FIVE YEARS.
THERE IS A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING AND EMPATHY ABOUT THE MENOPAUSE.
arcnews Iain Campbell—24
ISSUE 85 | OCT-NOV 2016
TACKLING EVASION & AVOIDANCE, THEN & NOW IAIN CAMPBELL EXAMINES THE SCRUTINY FACING HMRC—14
arctoday
read more online at arcunion.org.uk
Helen Baird-Parker—26
EDITORIAL
Editorial
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recently met a colleague at one of the Leadership Academy events. We were talking about the various changes in HMRC and how easy it is to get change fatigue. Often we can see the reason why something has changed, but still get fed up with it, especially if it is not long since the last change. I mentioned that when people can see the benefit they seem to accept it much better. This was based on my observation of the cynicism shown before the Surface Pro tablets were introduced, which then quickly changed once people started to use them. Even those who said it took them a long time to get used to them were praising their usefulness. It surprised the cynic in me, who is not used to such optimism over new things – especially IT! This led to a discussion on the perceived lack of reasoning behind some changes the Department has made recently. The colleague I was talking to told me they had been in the same job role, at the same desk, for several years. In the last two years they had belonged to four different directorates. They actually had to check which directorate they currently belonged to before they could tell me. The reason for the change given each time was that the work was “a better fit” in the new directorate. We laughed about it, and I forgot the conversation until I was talking to the new TSP16 colleagues at an ARC welcome event. I asked which directorates they were in and was left momentarily blank when one said “WMBC”. If people are struggling to remember who they themselves work for, it’s not surprising that others can’t remember the various directorate changes. I suspect before the Regional Centre changes are complete, we will be seeing more changes. There will definitely be changes to ARC’s organisation. Our Centres will need reconsidered to reflect the new locations of HMRC offices, and will need to be renamed. But we will learn from the Department (I hope!) and avoid rushing into these changes, and we will make sure we communicate them clearly. At the 2016 AGM, there was a motion about this which was remitted on the grounds that it set a specific date by which changes should me made. Committee discussed it and were pleased members were already thinking about the necessary changes but didn’t want to commit to completing the changes before the Regional Centre changes were finalised. ARC will need to remain flexible on this issue, and involve members in those Centres. If you have any thoughts about these changes please get in touch with your CLO and attend your Centre meetings if you can. Also keep your eyes out for updates on arcunion.org. uk over the next few years, and get involved in the discussions. Julie Blayney Editor/arcnews@arcunion.org.uk
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Photo Competition The best suggestion for last issue’s photo was from Leslie Crumpton-Taylor. This month’s photo is from the AGM back in April. Let us have your humorous suggestions for what is being thought or said by 20 November to arcnews@arcunion.org.uk
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is published by the Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC) 8 Leake Street London SE1 7NN www.arcunion.org.uk President:
Vicky Johnson, 020 7401 5559 President’s Secretary:
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arcnews
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020 7401 5590 membership@fda.org.uk Editor:
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OCT-NOV 2016: ISSUE 85
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NEW COMMITTEE
Heather Morrison IT IS IN PART THE PERCEPTION THAT HMRC IS NOW LESS FAMILY-CARER FRIENDLY AND FLEXIBLE TOWARDS EMPLOYEES, THAT MADE ME WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH ARC COMMITTEE.
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I
joined HMRC in 1988, at the height of the previous mass trainee recruitment, when whole classes of trainees used to defect in search of better prospects immediately after sitting their final exams. Like a good number of other recruits at the time it was a change from a previous career. I had spent the previous six years in the oil industry working in east Africa and then the Middle East, and joining the Inland Revenue through CSSB (Civil Service Selection Board, the predecessor of the Fast Stream Assessment Centres) had seemed like a good idea at a time when the price of a barrel of oil had plunged and prospects in the industry were not looking too bright. Had I known how challenging the next few years would be with FT tax exams then I may have changed my mind, or at least picked a different department. But by 1993 I was fully trained and a Deputy District Inspector in
Reading 2 District (already my 4th district after Lewisham, Bromley 1 and Reading 5). I have happy memories of those days – inspectors used to decamp to the pub at midday on Friday until what was then closing time at 3pm. And we used to find a lot more time to go out to lunches together – rose-tinted memories of a slower-paced, less pressurised workplace where there was time to get to know and bond with your colleagues socially. After ten years in Reading and three children, I saw the way forward in my career as a move to the Oil Taxation Office (OTO) in London. I could not have done it without enlightened management and a supportive family friendly policy as I had a one, a four and a six year-old at that time; it was agreed that I could work from home for two days a week, something I did for eight years without any problems, well before the days of the Surface Pro which makes such arrangements much simpler. I used to use an ancient laptop, floppy discs, and to get online I had to try to dial up on a phone line – very unreliable. Add in my term-time working and my arrangements were pretty complex. It is in part the perception that HMRC is now less family and carer friendly and less flexible towards employees, despite increasing family friendly legislation over the years, that made me want to get involved with ARC Committee. Working in OTO was the most interesting work I have done,
giving me exposure not only to dealing with the biggest corporates, but to the challenges of a unique sector and the opportunity to hold a national technical portfolio. I moved on to avoidance work in the SRU and spent many years afterwards as an International specialist. More recently I moved into the Task Force in LB and now work on Diverted Profits Tax. In 2008 I had gained promotion to Grade 6, and with support from ARC agreed a move to Oxford via a brief spell in L&C London, where there had proved to be much less enlightened management – and this encouraged me to want to help other colleagues through becoming an ARC caseworker myself. Now Oxford, like many other locations, is shortly to close. Those who can or want to stay with HMRC will be funnelled into Regional Centres, with massive disruption to many people’s lives and significant additional costs through taxation of DTA. This, PMR, ever-decreasing take home pay and a perception that HMRC is getting ever less caring towards its greatest asset – its people – has inspired me to join ARC Committee and at least try to do something about it. There is a lot that could be done to make people feel truly valued and appreciated for what they contribute, and supported in their work-life balance, and for HMRC to be the genuine “modern employer” to which it aspires. “Business Need” should work both ways, as it is in the interests – needs – of the business to have a happy and motivated arcnews
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Ashley Falla So this is a story, all about how My life got flipped, turned upside down So I thought I’d take some time and write this quick little ditty To tell you how I ended up as a member of Committee
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I have never been particularly skilled at starting a piece of writing about myself, so I typically revert back to using theme tunes from 90s television shows to help me (the above was to the tune of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air for those not familiar with the reference). My first day in HMRC was Monday 10 September 2012. I came to the role straight after finishing my degree in Psychology and Law, with no tax knowledge whatsoever and a face like a 12 year old boy. Now some things haven’t changed in the four years that followed – I still can’t grow a convincing moustache for example – but a huge number of things have changed. After nine exams and countless hours in tutorials I am now a proud alumnus of the Tax Professional Development Programme (TPDP). Outside of work there has been some significant change as well. The last four years have seen me move in to a flat in a new town with my girlfriend, get a guinea pig and even turn my girlfriend into my wife. If you ever want me to bore you to tears with photographs of the wedding (at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland)
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or the honeymoon (Dubai and the Maldives) then let me know and I would be delighted to. My involvement with ARC started almost immediately after I joined HMRC. At an induction event at Lawress Hall we were spoken to by representatives from Committee who informed us of all the benefits of membership. When these were coupled with a draw for a free iPad and nothing to pay for the first six months, I was sold. I had never been a member of a union before and it was a world I was wholly unfamiliar with. In my office’s Centre (Leicester), the Centre President and Secretary at the time, Hayley Moran and Mike Simmons respectively, were always encouraging trainee involvement so it was not long before I attended my first AGM in London. I had been informed that it was a lively affair (especially post-dinner) but I had just come
straight from University. I was confident that I could handle whatever AGM could throw at me. My confidence was short lived. I found my reserves fading as I rested on a barrier in O’Neill’s at 2:30am. I felt a hand on my shoulder and was relieved when I turned to find our now Deputy President Paula Houghton stood there. Again, my relief was short lived as Paula presented me with a gin and tonic and cheered in my face. Apart from the events of that night, what I found most fascinating was the passion with which people spoke at the AGM. I truly felt that this group, made up of largely unconnected colleagues, was coming together and working towards the same goals. After my second AGM (2016 in Nottingham), and the infamous defeat of Leicester’s Motion 47, I decided I wanted to get more involved and applied for one of the vacant roles on Committee. I feel incredibly privileged to represent members across HMRC and it is great to hear first-hand about the amazing work that some of our people are doing on issues like gender pay inequality. I hope this isn’t the last time I am asked to write something for arcnews. And, Paula, I think I still owe you a gin and tonic, so it can be my round next time I see you. •
IF YOU EVER WANT ME TO BORE YOU TO TEARS WITH PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE WEDDING OR THE HONEYMOON THEN LET ME KNOW AND I WOULD BE DELIGHTED TO.
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PENSIONS
State pension changes
The recent changes to state pension affects everyone; because it is not HMRC-specific, neither HMRC nor ARC have made any comment on it. ARC also has to be careful to note that that any statements made on pension issues are not pension or financial advice. That disclaimer equally applies to this article. This information was prepared at the request of Nottingham centre, so thank you to them for the request and this will hopefully raise awareness amongst those of you who were not aware of the changes or their impact.
state pension, £119.30. For each qualifying year after 5 April 2016 we will accrue additional pension. The formula for working out your expected pension is:
ne of the clearest explanations of the pension changes can be found at www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/ how-its-calculated. The new state pension is £155.35 per week maximum; whether you receive the full amount depends on your National Insurance payment history. Staff employed by HMRC prior to April 2016 were previously contracted out by virtue of our employers pension scheme, meaning we paid a reduced rate of NI to reflect the fact that as we have a private pension we were unlikely to need top ups to the old basic state pension. For those who have paid contracted out rates while working for HMRC, our NI contributions mean the starting point for our state pension as of April 16 is the equivalent of the old basic
If you are more than nine years away from state retirement age, by the time you reach it you will have ‘caught up’ and receive the full amount of the new state pension. If you have less than eight years before state retirement age, you will have less qualifying years and so less addition to the old basic. For example with three years to state retirement age you might expect a state pension of:
O
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(____________ × qualifying years) + old state pension 35 New state pension
So, for someone with eight qualifying years (since April 2016) the numbers are: (__________ 35 × 8) + 119.30 = £154.80 155.35
155.35
(_____ 35 × 3) + 119.30 = £132.62 If you follow the link above to the .gov website you can send off for personal illustrations. This is something members who are planning or even considering retiring in the next nine years may consider helpful. • arcnews
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today The new ARC website is now up and running at:
arcunion.org.uk Read the latest news, blogs and comment Get the latest on changes to pay, terms and conditions Get in touch with your local reps and committee members Flick through back issues of arcnews, information arc and members’ updates Join the discussion on the new ARC Forum Exchange ideas and comments with your fellow ARC members in our secure members’ area All members are automatically registered and you should have received your username and password by email. If you missed it, just email us with your FDA membership number and full name at registration@arcunion.org.uk and we’ll send you a reminder. We’re continuing to develop the site and will be adding lots more content and features in the coming months. We will also be running a users’ survey in the run-up to Christmas, so please use the new ARC members’ forum let us know how we can improve the site and what else you’d like to see available online or email us at website@arcunion.org.uk. Help us to develop the ARC website into a digital meeting place for members and help build the union for the future. arcnews
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REPORT: TUC2016
TUC 2016 VICKY JOHNSON REPORTS FROM THE TUC IN BRIGHTON.
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n June, at the FDA awayday, I heard a whisper about the FDA having four delegates to the TUC in September 2016. I also heard the suggestion that as two of those would go to the General Secretary and President (both male) and one to Managers in Partnership (MIP), the final space should go to a female to show some diversity. So I volunteered to go and ended up sharing a place with the Deputy President, Fiona Eadie. Then I was told I’d have to speak – this was not made clear, it might have been a game changer, especially as even just supporting a motion (or an amendment) gave you just three minutes! FDA had two motions and two amendments, which in theory meant four speakers from five people. To cut a long story short I was allocated the amendment to the Brexit motion on employment
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and trade union rights. It was first up on Tuesday morning. I have never been to Brighton, so on Monday 12 September I left Leake Street to travel down. Fortunately, Paula had arrived on the Sunday so I had directions! I was able to check in and then walk down the seafront to the Brighton Centre (you couldn’t miss it) which is right next door to the Grand Hotel. I arrived just in time for the afternoon session at 2.15. They call conference to order and then lower the lights to play a sequence building up a screen saver for 2016. I wanted to record it but didn’t get the chance! Then the steel workers received a standing ovation, there were about fifty of them in the arena, with hard hats and high viz jackets. Each seat had a ‘Save our Steel’ poster on it which we had to hold up for the video and pictures – powerful stuff to send out to the
press for the next day’s papers! Monday afternoon included motions on industrial policy (the need for one), steel and tax relief on pension contributions. FDA had submitted an amendment to the pensions motion which Gareth Hills spoke to; somewhat ironically he made a joke about being a tax inspector but still supporting the relief. Monday evening we happened to be near the Grand Hotel as Jeremy Corbyn arrived to speak at the General Council’s dinner – we ate nearby at a fish restaurant that also served rather nice gin! So Tuesday morning came. I had prepared a speech but wanted some advice about whether FDA had any specific lines for me to take as part of it. So over breakfast I spoke with Dave Penman who fortunately also remembered to tell me what the process was. I had to go up to the front of the arcnews
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arena as the motion was called, have my pass scanned so that my name would come up on to the screen as I spoke and also be aware that the lectern would move automatically to my height as I approached it. I was very grateful for that latter piece of information because if I had walked up not knowing the lectern would move I would have been quite spooked! I knew I wasn’t going to take the full three minutes but I had just over two pages of double spaced writing to speak to. I had read and re read it so I was able to look up as I spoke occasionally and of course I had Paula and the FDA communications staff at the back taking pictures and tweeting. I received a round of applause which I was grateful for and then I was able to relax and become one of those speaking bores who notes when someone merely reads their speech! The rest of Tuesday covered health services, equalities and diversity, organising, health and safety at work (including a arcnews
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I WAS TOLD TO BE AWARE THAT THE LECTERN WOULD MOVE AUTOMATICALLY TO MY HEIGHT AS I APPROACHED IT. I WAS VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT LATTER PIECE OF INFORMATION BECAUSE IF I HAD WALKED UP NOT KNOWING THE LECTERN WOULD MOVE I WOULD HAVE BEEN QUITE SPOOKED!
motion on appropriate footwear at work), creative industries (think Channel 4) and the lay reps awards, which were wonderful to see. The final part of the day was to announce the results of the ballot for the General Council and we were pleased to hear that our FDA General Secretary had been re-elected. If you get a chance, go – it is quite humbling to hear about the issues that other professions are facing, even if the Equity rep’s
rather theatrical speech about big companies being allowed to avoid tax while little actors were now expected to make quarterly tax returns had me seething! Speaking at the TUC was a big deal for me but what I hadn’t realised was it would be a big deal for others too. I put the picture of me speaking on Facebook and was astounded to receive over 100 likes and a number of comments from people telling me how proud of me they were. I knew it would be daunting because I’ve seen it on the TV from time to time and noticed the number of people who are there and to whom you are speaking. I gave no thought to how others, who may have known me for years (old school friends, old colleagues) or who may have only just met me would react and I have to say it is rather humbling to think that so many people are so proud of me. I am very grateful to you all. •
today
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VICKY JOHNSON FEELS THE COOLTH.
CHANGE OF
SEASON
W
ell I didn’t get my wish; I was bounced off the front page of the last edition by an article from Rasmus Christensen. I have to confess I did think this was a new pseudonym for one of our members so I must apologise to Rasmus, as I am assured he is a very real person.
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The editor did indulge me though and the picture accompanying my piece was of a fairly large mountain (I’m still in the foothills). I’m not too sure about the picture of me with my first article, I do take an awful picture but this one is especially rubbish so it won’t be appearing again (will it Julie?) [I thought you looked fine Vicky, but I promise not to print it again if you don’t like it! - ed]
It seems a long time since I last wrote but it’s actually probably only about six weeks and a lot has happened.
PMR Iain Campbell and I went to see the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and had an excellent hour-long meeting. The idea was to come out of the meeting and collect our thoughts, ready to
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PRESIDENT’S SAY
THE IDEA WAS TO COME OUT OF THE MEETING AND COLLECT OUR THOUGHTS, READY TO PUT A PAPER TOGETHER. AS EVER, THE BEST LAID PLANS CAN GO AWRY AND I HAD TO HOTFOOT IT BACK TO SWISS COTTAGE BECAUSE THE BUILDING MY FLAT IS IN WAS ON FIRE.
put a paper together. As ever, the best laid plans can go awry and I had to hotfoot it back to Swiss Cottage because the building my flat is in was on fire. My old school friend, whose flat it is, was on holiday but her mother also has a flat in the building. As she is in her late 70s, I thought I ought to be with her. Fortunately, everyone had got out safely, all the pets had been located and the fire was
contained to the one flat. This all meant that Iain and I didn’t manage to collect our thoughts until a few days after, but we have now managed to do that, Iain has discussed it with a few people and the completed two-page document has gone to Jon Thompson. He has responded that he agrees with much of the content and, as we are ahead of him, he would like to roll it into the ExCom PMR discussion for
the autumn. I’m happy with that but I’ve asked to hear the outcome. We still have our subgroup lined up to take anything forward – they’re not stood down yet!
Pay The monthly meetings set up to start discussions around the 2017 pay award are underway and we have had two so far. The first discussed the
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ranges, where people were on those ranges and what, if anything, we could do to improve that. I think I have mentioned in my blog that this was the meeting I had a strop in. This happened because we kept being told we couldn’t do anything with 1% and the basic premise of my strop was to ask what appetite ExCom had to publicly ask for more money. The question was taken away to discuss and for once not refused immediately. The upshot is that we are having weekly meetings to put a business case together to present to ExCom and that case will ask for more money, potentially as part of a multi year deal. Very early days and RTI tells me not to get my hopes up! We also had a meeting on the nonconsolidated performance pot and how we could use it differently. ARC have always opposed performance pay and so we are trying to find a way of using it to reward more than just those who have received an Exceed marking. I have said I will not accept simply paying a lump sum to everyone regardless of grade or mark but that I would consider sensible suggestions that take into account grade. Needless to say I was not popular with our sister union but they did concede that we were talking about it (I refused last year because I considered it was too late to start thinking about how to use it differently after the end of the year it was rewarding). But as I said, ARC has always opposed performance pay, so we should consider this.
BOF Since I last wrote, we haven’t got any
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further on the redundancy process – they are still thinking about the decision maker point and the appeal point – or maybe not and it’s all on hold while we go through meaningful consultation. We are having weekly meetings to discuss those who are now in the process of considering their voluntary redundancy offers. After the end of September we will know how many people have not accepted an offer and work with them to find a solution. It’s a massive undertaking and as the process of building our future continues we will only see more pressure on the workforce team, so we need to watch carefully to ensure they are properly resourced to handle the cases with sensitivity. We know that an overworked person
can make mistakes and we must avoid that where possible. On a lighter note Ravi Chand survived his trip to Inverness and even went to Dundee shortly afterwards. He has committed to visit Carlisle and Enniskillen and has already been to Woolwich and other offices. Ravi’s 2016 tour continues apace but it was good to see him back – when we met in August nobody had seen sight nor sound of him since July and I was concerned he had got lost on his way back from Inverness. We have also had the organisational design changes announced and I have to say they make perfect sense to me
– in fact I have been quoted in Civil Service World saying just that – among other things. I do have some nervousness around any potential effect on the Line of Business plans announced at the end of June but I am prepared to trust Rebekah Ayres when she says they should not impact greatly – I’m hoping for the best! Speaking to the media is quite daunting, as I’m quite chatty and prone to saying too much. So far I’ve been quoted in the Guardian and Civil Service World twice and I’ve also spoken to Polly Toynbee who was interested in the impact of closing local offices. Apparently I sound quite arcnews
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coherent when I speak but I still prefer time to prepare!
HR policy The new head of Employee Relations has set up monthly meetings for HR Policy updates and at the last one HR Policy agreed to review the hotel rates. I explained it was becoming increasingly hard to find a hotel in London for less than £120 when you had to book at the last minute. In response to the suggestion that an exception can be made, we explained the tension created last year when travel was virtually banned in a certain directorate. This would mean there could never be an exception made because there was too much fear of running out of budget. The most recent example of hotel foolery was my previous manager having to stay in the Bethnal Green Travelodge (and so incur extra travel costs), whose entrance looked to be down a dark alley. Fortunately, that manager is 6 feet 9 inches tall and consequently unlikely to be concerned about walking down there (if he was, he didn’t say so!) but others might be. arcnews
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We have managed to make these meetings less about singleton people issues and more about strategy. So individual parts of HR policy may be dealt with by different ARC Reps, but the overall piece and the forward look from HR comes at these meetings, with the individual meetings feeding into them. For those of you who don’t already know, the head of HR Policy is now Tracy McGee who is also head of Employee Relations and works to Chris Elliott (who replace Jonathan Donovan). It all sounds quite bitty when I try and write about what I’m doing and that’s because, as we say in our graduate recruitment blurb, no two days are the same. It is bitty and it is hard to keep track sometimes, which is why I am always grateful when people volunteer to help out – particularly noncommittee members who are helping with casework (you know who you are)! I don’t do casework at the
moment because I may be needed to step in at some point. Our national officer, Zohra Francis, is quite fierce about keeping me away from it, so I’m behaving, despite being, well, nosey really! In this edition, I want to mention specifically the Committee members who were able to go to Lincoln to speak to our TSP2016 Trainees and hopefully get some more members for us. So a big thank you to Fran Hunter, Ben Barnett, Ashley Falla and David Cooper who covered the three visits, to Spencer who organised the pens and lanyards (etc), and to Becky in the FDA office for sending it all out. I hope to receive some notifications of members joining shortly! And if you are one of those new members reading your first ever ARC News, well done for getting to the end of this article and welcome to ARC. I hope to get out to the Autumn Centre meetings and meet some of you. As ever, if there’s something you are particularly interested in that isn’t mentioned here do get in touch, either via the website: arcunion.org.uk or directly to me using vicky@fda.org.uk. I do respond – honestly! • 13
Here’s looking at you, HMRC
IAIN CAMPBELL FEELS THE HEAT OF SCRUTINY ON THE TAX SERVICE.
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HMRC: UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
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t seems everyone is having a look at HMRC. The Institute for Government is examining tax policy making and the Office for Tax Simplification (OTS) has set out its views, with the Treasury Select Committee taking oral evidence. Fresh from a report on base erosion and profits shifting (BEPS), the All Party Parliamentary Group on Responsible Tax (APPG) has just announced a review into HMRC, “looking at levels of public confidence and trust in the capability of HMRC to collect tax fairly and effectively. This includes looking at customer service experience and how HMRC fights tax avoidance and evasion.” The remit for the review explains: It is recognised that ‘trust’ is a difficult term to define precisely. Here, we define trust as relating not to the honesty or integrity of HMRC and its staff but to their ability to effect
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certain outcomes. In particular, this means collecting tax effectively (that is, reducing the ‘tax gap’ between what is owed and what is collected) and fairly (that is, not wittingly or unwittingly applying rules in an inconsistent manner). We posit that the two particular circumstances that contribute to public trust or distrust in HMRC: the general public’s direct interaction with HMRC through their own tax affairs; and the publicity of HMRC’s success or otherwise in combatting tax evasion and avoidance.” (Incidentally, I’ve been asked to speak on rebuilding trust in HMRC at an APPG meeting. So any thoughts on what to say will be welcomed.)
Reforming HMRC: Making it fit for the twenty-first century
* “In return for greater and earlier certainty the taxpayer undertakes to provide disclosure and transparency. Disclosure requires the taxpayer to provide the tax administration with all the information that it needs to make fully informed risk assessment of the tax issues arising from a tax return, including any specific transactions or positions that raise questions that are particularly uncertain, difficult, or controversial from the standpoint of the tax administration.” —http://bit. ly/2ek025l
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While these are works in progress we have a finished product, in the form of a review into HMRC commissioned by John McDonnell for the Labour Party. Its chair, Prem Sikka, spoke at an ARC dinner a few years ago, when he intrigued us with stories on transfer pricing, like the plastic buckets from the Czech Republic imported into America at $972.98 each. This report doesn’t get quite so many laughs. It begins soberly: “Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) performs a vital task in collecting taxes, enforcing lax laws and delivering services to taxpayers. Against a background of reductions in resources, it has experienced considerable difficulties in meeting the service expectation of taxpayers and challenging organised tax avoidance. This policy paper
HMRC resources and staffing investigates the difficulties and makes recommendations to »» HMRC should offer competistrengthen HMRC and its public tive financial rewards to its staff accountability.” Initial reactions But Prem trailed the review with quite a different tone in a As you can imagine I was not comment piece in the Guardian. aware that HMRC is in thrall (perThe headline said “HMRC is in haps false consciousness?), or to thrall to big business. It can no TO PICK ANOTHER BOLD CLAIM: “A MAJOR longer do its REASON FOR HMRC’S FAILURE TO MAXIMISE job.” He said nothing about a TAX REVENUES IS ITS CLOSENESS TO BIG vital task. BUSINESS. SEEMINGLY, TO APPEASE BIG Instead, the artiCORPORATIONS, THE GOVERNMENT HAS cle began: VIRTUALLY PRIVATISED TAX POLICY “Her Majesty’s Revenue and MAKING AND ENFORCEMENT.” Customs is no longer fit for purpose. A lack of resources and pick another bold claim, that “a its closeness to big business mean major reason for HMRC’s failure it is unable to maximise tax reveto maximise tax revenues is its nues, provide a good service to closeness to big business. Seemtaxpayers or adequately enforce ingly, to appease big corporations, tax laws – its fundamental the government has virtually prirequirements. Deep reforms are vatised tax policy making and needed to make it fit for the 21st enforcement.” Yet HMRC’s last century.” annual report noted it was “workIt was published in a slightly ing closely with the 2,100 largest odd way via Sribd (I later found it and most complex businesses in here: http://bit.ly/2d2QawH). the UK to understand and address Scribd is not an app that sits on the compliance risks they pose. At my phone, so it took a little time the start of the year half of these to sort out. Because of that diffibusinesses were being reviewed culty and possible lack of circulaby HMRC and during 2015-16 we tion I thought it would be secured £7.3 billion of compliance interesting for members to see revenue from them.” what the main points were and There are genuine debates to be some of my reactions. I’ve includhad about the range and mix of ed here the executive summary of membership of bodies like the what is called the First Stage HMRC Board, the robustness of Report (see box overleaf ). It was yield figures, or the effectiveness commissioned last September, so of Co-operative Compliance*. For it may be a long time before Stage example, the NAO independently Two! You can guess we are all in assessed the reliability of HMRC’s favour of points 3 and 6 – they yield figures and concluded that sound like they come from our around £20bn of its overall comown Defeat the Deficit campaign: pliance yield of £26bn was “reasonable”. But the Report’s »» Additional investment in arcnews
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HMRC: UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
Tax Gap estimates for 2013-14 Value of the tax gap by customer group
Value of the tax gap by type of tax
SME’s
IT, NICs and CGT
Large businesses
Value added tax
£16.5bn £9.5bn
£5.1bn Evasion
£13.1bn
£4.4bn Hidden economy
Corporation Tax
£5.1bn £2.9bn
Criminal attacks
£14.0bn
Criminals Individuals
Value of the tax gap by behaviour
£6.2bn
£3.0bn Excise duties
£2.7bn
Avoidance
£2.7bn Legal interpretation
Other taxes
£4.9bn
£1.1bn
Non-payment
£4.1bn
Failure to take reasonable care
£3.9bn Error
£2.6bn sweeping assertions make one wonder if the authors of the review want to enter into these sorts of discussions. They are predominantly academics in law, accounting or management, with what looks like no recent tax or criminal prosecution experience. And there are no representatives from business or the tax profession who might have offered a different view of issues and solutions. Eight of the reports contributors are members of the Corporate Reform Collective, whose views (https://gordonpearson.co.uk/corporate-reform-manifesto/) might suggest they were predisposed to certain conclusions. (For instance, a goal for arcnews
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“legislation to facilitate conversion of major companies to shared decision-making with twotier supervisory and executive boards with employee representatives on the supervisory board on the German model”. The Review focuses mainly on big business. I have to say I found it unsettling to read some of the analyses that underlie the recommendations. They seem to ignore evidence that runs counter to their main arguments and to my mind place excess weight on one or two instances. I thought I’d focus on exploring in more detail just two areas, the Tax Gap, and the introduction of a Supervisory Board. Members may also be
interested in the recent blog article focussing on a specific aspect of the report – the GAAR (General Anti-Abuse Rule) – by Judith Knott, formerly of ARC and HMRC (http://bit.ly/2e3Ijfv). This chapter concentrates on the role of prosecutions (for offshore offences) and tackling tax avoidance by the “tax avoidance industry” or big firms. At a stroke domestic evasion is put to one side, which aggregates £15.7bn compared to £2.7bn avoidance. Even if areas like base erosion could be quantified, and tackled domestically, (and the Review to my surprise says nothing about BEPS) the entire CT yield is 8% of all revenues, so why focus only on that? → 17
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF LABOUR’S REVIEW OF HMRC
1. The formation of a Supervisory Board, consisting of stakeholders, to watch over HMRC Board to give it direction and enhance its public accountability. The Board shall act as a bulwark against corporate capture and inertia and be accountable to parliamentary committees. 2. The Supervisory Board should support and protect tax whistleblowers. 3. Additional investment in HMRC resources and staffing. 4. HMRC needs local knowledge and must respond to citizens’ concerns. This is best achieved through a network of local offices and staff with local knowledge. 5. HMRC should have a well-resourced internal investigation and prosecution unit. This would strengthen its in-house institutional knowledge base. 6. HMRC should offer competitive financial rewards to its staff. 7. Stronger parliamentary oversight. 8. The tax returns, related computations and documents of all large companies must be made publicly available. The public availability of corporate tax information will improve the quality of information available to parliamentary committees to scrutinise the effectiveness of HMRC in meeting its objectives. 9. Parliamentary committees should be empowered to examine any tax information, no matter how sensitive. It would be up to the relevant parliamentary committee to decide whether scrutiny of any documents and practices should be conducted in private or closed meetings. 10. The backlog of tax cases creates uncertainties and anxieties. This is also unfair to taxpayers. The judicial capacity to hear cases should be expanded. 11. Various reports published by HMRC should contain information that enhances transparency and accountability. 12. Public pressure is a vital ingredient in transforming HMRC. It should not be diluted by the introduction of fees to challenge tax assessments. 13. HMRC needs effective tools to combat sham. We recommend a rewrite of the General Anti Abuse Rule (GAAR). HMRC should be guided by the Department of Justice and/or a panel of retired judges, rather than by corporate elites.
The Review also seems to assume HMRC is responsible for tax policy. It is not. Things like the patent box arose from a Labour Party manifesto pledge. I also find the chapter’s credibility weakened by statements such as: “the persistence of the tax gap shows that HMRC is not maximising tax collection”, or “the exact details of the HMRC model for estimating the tax gap are not publicly available”. (The annexe provides chapter and verse: http://bit. ly/2dE4kTW). I think this shows that the Report is only looking at multinational corporations, much of whose tax affairs are specifically out of scope of the tax gap as 18
being within BEPS.) Sitting alongside these are familiar comments that parliamentary committees were unable to judge if earlier settlements were reasonable, yet there is no mention of the Park Report that found all of them to be at least reasonable and one better than that. Deterrence is something where there is no universal agreement on its effectiveness but where we ought to have a more balanced discussion on what works, for what offences, frequency, balance between criminal and civil routes, etc. The review does not address any of these issues but seems to assume prosecutions are
cost-effective, easy to organise, succeed (Harry Redknapp anyone?) and have deterrent value.
Supervisory Board The review places a great deal of weight on a Supervisory Board (with an indeterminate membership), an idea I suspect will be the proverbial fifth wheel on the coach. The review says nothing about the role of Excom or the Board and how these would be integrated with the role of this new board. Presumably the CEO remains accountable to a minister who is accountable to Parliament as whole, but the new board is accountable to “parliamentary arcnews
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HMRC: UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
committees”. It will give HMRC a “sense of direction”, play no part in operations, yet it will “focus on the quality of enforcement action taken to increase tax collection, including the number of prosecutions against large businesses, high net worth individuals and others”. It must approve all large settlements and decisions on office closures, as well as ensuring HMRC meets its objectives. It will hold public meetings and all information it considers will be made available to Parliamentary committees (who are to have unfettered access to any HMRC information, no matter how sensitive.) As you might have gathered I worry this is a recipe for administrative and constitutional discord. There seem ample opportunities for accountabilities to clash, for operational decisions to be reversed, for sensitive data to become public with adverse consequences for taxpayers or the Exchequer. For example, the new Board will be the point of contact for whistleblowers (of which HMRC arcnews
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receives hundreds of reports each year, e.g. via the evasion hotline) yet where is their protection against disclosure by the board or a committee? At the same time, I felt that good opportunities for some real potential improvements have been lost in favour of these bigger and more dramatic statements. The review is less than complementary about the Assurance Commissioner, so recommends the Supervisory Board take on this role (presumably superseding the Commissioner). To me this Big Bang approach is not needed.
Conclusion ARC was one of the stakeholders consulted about the review. We made the points about resourcing HMRC and proper reward and recognition. But we also advised that a new Supervisory Board was likely to cause practical problems. Vicky repeated these points in Civil Service World. Labour should have taken a thorough look at how HMRC is set up to tackle more than
service expectation of taxpayers or challenging “organised tax avoidance”. The Review says nothing about how HMRC should tackle the wide range of issues it faces, or tax policy in general: the changing nature of employment; the balance between employment, self-employment and incorporation and assurance of these rules; the role of digital; use and monitoring of reliefs; big data and analytics; the role of ‘boots on the ground’; where should responsibility for tax policy sit; impact of variable regional or national tax rates; tax simplification; staff engagement, and probably more. So I conclude by thinking the report is a wasted opportunity. Any views from readers – Julie will be delighted to have letters, e-mails, or comments on the ARC website. [ed: Iain is, of course, right. Please let us know your thoughts: arcunion. org.uk/scrutiny.] • JUDITH KNOTT HAS SOME STRONG THOUGHTS ON THIS ISSUE, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ HER COMMENTS YOU CAN DO SO HERE: HTTP://BIT.LY/2E3IJFV. 19
All our yesterdays JEREMY BURROWS TAKES A LOOK BACK THROUGH THE PAGES OF QUARTERLY RECORD, THE MAGAZINE OF THE ASSOCIATION OF INSPECTORS OF TAXES.
DECEMBER 1904
Quarterly Record number 1, dated December 1904, informed members that Three papers on ‘Frauds and Evasions,’ ‘Averages,’ and ‘Wasting Assets and Annuities,’ have been compiled by the President of the Association [E. Stanford, of City 2 District], and 20
after careful consideration and revision by the London Committee in connection with communications on the subjects from the Advisory Councils, have been transmitted to the Board of Inland Revenue.” The following extract is taken from the beginning of the
first of these three papers. There is nothing new under the sun… and it would appear that there is nothing new in either concern about the “tax gap” or in the suggestion that the way to address it is to invest sufficient resources in the tax-gathering departments! arcnews
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QUARTERLY RECORD ARCHIVES
Income Tax: Evasions & Fraudulent Returns, with Suggested Remedies for Dealing with them
T
he greatest objection to the Income Tax, from the taxpayer’s point of view, used to be the inquisitorial nature of the investigations which are found to be necessary to secure fair and adequate assessment, involving, as they often do, the revealing to officials of some of the most confidential information respecting the financial position and business relations of the person whose liability is being investigated; and many taxpayers still urge this as a reason for their dislike to the tax. It is, however, fair to assume that this objection is no longer much more than superficial, and that the causes which make the tax unpopular at the present time spring from other sources, and are sounder and more deeply rooted than the old complaint of inquisitiveness. When an apology was recently tendered to a taxpayer for the many enquiries that were being made into the basis of his return, he replied, “Oh, never mind! There is nothing private nowadays, and as long as we are all treated alike I have no fault to find.” The grounds of objection which are most prominent at the present time are twofold: arcnews
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»» The high rates which have been imposed for the last three years and for the current year. »» The general feeling that the tax is not equally levied, and that evasions are far too common. The objection of inquisitiveness does not come within the scope of this paper, and is insignificant as compared with other objections which are less forcibly advanced. It is safe to assume that, provided the tax is kept at a moderate rate, not only will the question of repeal never be raised, but that any Government which proposes its abolition will receive but scant support from an electorate mainly exempt from the burden. The question of the existence of evasions is quite a different matter. Experience shows that real grievances do exist in this direction, and it may safely be asserted that the grounds for this objection are even stronger than is generally supposed. Not only do some taxpayers make a practice of sending in false returns, but they openly boast of the ease with which the Revenue can be defrauded. The difficulties in the way of detection, and the inadequacy of the penalties which can be or are enforced under the existing statutes and practice, tend to increase the evil and to make the tax very unpopular with those who make proper returns and bear their fair share of the public burden. The straightforward taxpayer can justly complain that the tax is higher than it need be owing to the pronounced evasion of their liabilities by a certain and by no means inconsiderable section of the community. The cure for this unpopularity lies in the direction of more efficient administration and the
adequate punishment of offenders. At the present time when detections are made the offences are generally compromised, and invariably covered with a cloak of secrecy which removes much of the sting from the detection, the fraudulent taxpayer not only escaping the ignominy which should attach to this offence, but retaining, as is often the case, the greater portion of the proceeds of his fraud. That a very large sum is lost to the Revenue annually through such frauds on the part of taxpayers is notorious, and that increased powers are urgently required to enable the authorities to deal with the evil, powers which ought to have been asked for in the first instance, and were omitted, partly owing to the temporary nature of the tax, but mainly to the lack of experience which time alone could supply, is also apparent. Statistics can no doubt be furnished by the Board of Inland Revenue showing what amount has been recovered annually in the shape of penalties, and voluntary payments on account of omissions and inadequate returns and assessments. These, however, represent but a small proportion of the tax which is annually lost through fraudulent practices and the ignorant misapprehension of taxpayers as to their liability. It is no exaggeration to say that if the official staff were adequately increased, and the necessary additional powers granted by Parliament to enable these evils to be properly remedied, the gain to the Revenue from the detection of fraudulent returns and omissions would make a considerable difference to the yield of the tax. 21
100 YEARS AGO: APRIL 1916 Nostalgia, they say, isn’t what it used to be; and neither, it would appear, is poetry! The following appeared in the April 1916 edition of Quarterly Record:
Rhymes of the Times A colleague in the land o’cakes, who sends us a real gem, received in response to an application to a “Private Resident” for a return, sends also his suggested reply asking for a statement on page 3 of form 38. He does not say whether the reply was actually sent, but we think it a pity if it was not, for, allowing for the advantage a writer in the dialect of Burns has over a rival rhymester who uses the metre – and the intentional bathos – of Pope, his lines are, in our opinion not unworthy of the poem which provoked their composition.
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O wherefore waste your ink and pen, By writing tae resourceless men? Until oor precious statutes tax, The bits o’ duds upon oor backs, The likes o’ me – here waste nae sorrow – Hae nocht till either lend or borrow. The earth is oors, the heavens above, And what we need o’ human love. Abstract the last, life here is ended, - Without ae beam o’ hope commended. Why tax, then, energy and paper? I’m but a luckless living-scraper. Tae pay the tax, wha’d be mair willin? Hoo can I, when I’ve no a shillin? Tak’ yer auld coat weel aboot ye, A’ it is that’s left tae clout ye Ither day, and sweet ye’ve seen. Wae, wae’s me! the micht hae been. ~ The Reply Poet! I doubt thee not; thy words ring true, As no feigned tale of woe, and much I rue That thou hast fallen thus on thorny ways. Yet doubt not all is well; soon gladder days Will greet thee, and a loftier fate unfold Its ampler vistas; soon perchance much gold And treasure will reward thy lyric task. But stay! O Northern bard! One thing I ask: Herewith a form of import high I send; Its words, I prithee, con; straightway attend To its behests; and most I counsel thee Mark well what is required on the page three: All that thou hast or wilt have ‘ere the year Hath run its fiscal course must here appear. Now therefore let thy spirit quit meantime Elysian heights, and may no sportive rhyme, No frolic fancy haunt thee; let they mind Sum up thy worldly means howe’er confined And scanty, and with careful pen recount In each particular space the true amount Duly set forth in sober verity. Then sign thy name and post it back to me.
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QUARTERLY RECORD ARCHIVES
50 YEARS AGO: OCT 1966 From the Editorial of the Quarterly Record for October 1966: From time to time the Tax Inspector is the subject of attack from various quarters. We have learned to chuckle to ourselves at the gibes of the cartoonist and music hall comedians, but far more offensive are the illinformed denigrations of the Inspectorate which occur from time to time from people who should know better, and it must be said that these have been on the increase lately. It is therefore all the more pleasing to record the following extract from Hansard of 20 June 1966: Mr HAROLD LEVER: … I am rarely to be heard singing the praises of the Inland Revenue in the Committee. Mr DIAMOND (Chief Secretary to the Treasury): Never. Mr LEVER: My Rt Hon. Friend says ‘never’. I would not have that belief widely held, especially if it were to reach the ears of my Income Tax Inspector. The Revenue in this country in its operation of our tax laws is meticulously fair and stands favourable comparison with any Revenue machine in the world. I often think – I know that this is heresy at the moment – that the talents, ability, and integrity which the officials display, and the responsibility which they undertake, make them the most underpaid section of the community. I hope that this will not reach too many Inspectors outside.”
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25 YEARS AGO: SEPT 1991 The September 1991 Quarterly Record included the usual spoof problem page. Here are a couple of examples of its content. The initials of the supposed questioners are those of Steve Dodd (at the time both a Committee Member and editor of QR) and Geoffrey Arnold-Pinchin (who was at the time an Honorary Secretary); but of course the questions themselves were invented by the satirist who wrote the piece. Q: A magazine which I edit in my spare time runs competitions for which prizes are awarded at my sole discretion. One of the regular competitors now happens to be my line manager. If I award him prizes will people think that I am either crawling or acting under duress? (S.D., Croydon)
advertisements nobody would have read it? (G. A.-P., Birmingham). A: Try all three. But bear in mind that: »» The photo did not show your tie, so a bow tie would hardly have improved matters; »» A number of people to whom I have spoken are prepared to give evidence to the effect that the photo was fairly flattering, so a trip to the courts might prove expensive; »» A colleague who inadvertently let AIT News fall into the hands of her young daughter is considering suing you for frightening the poor child half out of her wits. I apologise for pouring cold water on all your suggestions. But that’s the chance you take if you write
IN THE PRESENT CASE I SUGGEST THAT YOU A: Of course LIMIT YOURSELF TO GIVING PRIZES TO YOUR they will. Most of them will also LINE MANAGER FOR THOSE COMPETITIONS think you pretty WHICH HE OR SHE ACTUALLY ENTERS. TO daft if you don’t GO FURTHER WOULD NOT NECESSARILY BE give your line CORRUPT BUT IT WOULD LEAVE YOU OPEN TO manager a few prizes. Your line A CHARGE OF TRYING A BIT TOO HARD. manager certainly will. I have never understood why to me with answers to your own crawling is so reviled. I do not problem. condone blatant crawling; but all If you would like me to recomthat is required to invest it with mend a good barber please send a respectability is a modest degree stamped envelope. of subtlety. In the present case I suggest that you limit yourself to giving prizes to your line manager for those competitions which he or she actually enters. To go further would not necessarily be corrupt but it would leave you open to a charge of trying a bit too hard. Q: Having seen my photograph on the back page of the May 1991 issue of AIT News should I take to wearing a bow tie (Quarterly Record, September 1990), sue the printers, or assume that as the issue of AIT News contained no job 23
Looking beyond the profession
IAIN CAMPBELL
I
today Please get in touch if this issue reasonates with you. arcnews@arcunion.org.uk, or comment on the article online at arcunion.org.uk/arcnews85 24
ARC Officer
wanted to give a few early reactions to Vicky’s article in the last issue of arcnews (issue 84, Aug-Sept 2016) – which I had not been aware of in advance – about whether or not ARC is monopolised by tax professionals to the detriment of (largely) operational and policy people, and the member’s recommendation that we look to see what works in terms of recruitment. We try a range of approaches to get new members to join, like workplace stocktakes, attending induction events for new trainees, offering discounted subscription rates and holding stalls at things like Civil Service Live or BoF events. We make available arcnews, have recently built an accessible website, have an AGM which new attendees are positively encouraged to attend and we do all this on the tiny number of hours available under the deliberately restrictive facilities agreement imposed by Francis Maude. Any further advice or suggestions on how to increase membership are always welcome – it is in all our interests to get the numbers up. I also believe the concerns we address are relevant to all members. ‘Bread and butter issues’ are not delineated by which profession you are in – pay, terms and conditions,
PMR, reorganisations, careers, promotions and many more are universal. If I am representing members in a consultation meeting with a Director I do so on these issues, plus the ones particularly relevant to the Directorate, whether that is analysts in KAI, operational delivery in Personal Tax, or policy in Central Policy. For example, ARC recently met with the Institute for Government to discuss their review on the tax policymaking process and we fed back on this to arc-forum, asking for members’ views. When Helen Baird-Parker is working and challenging on things like equal pay, I very much doubt she is thinking in terms of professions but only in terms of groups of people. I entirely agree that ‘every role in HMRC is essentially a compliance role’. This has been the consistent message ARC has been delivering internally and externally for over five years. We have grounds for believing that our 2010 Defeat the Deficit campaign – in which all members were encouraged to take part through things like writing to their MPs – helped deliver an extra £917m for HMRC, and preserved or even increased the numbers in ARC grades. As part of that campaign we provided factsheets to people in Parliament, professional bodies, the media and more. Factsheet 4 began: “ARC is involved in each one of the 22 professions in HMRC. They all help to deliver the two main goals of HMRC – bringing in the money to fund the UK’s public services and operating tax credits to deliver financial support to families and individuals.” arcnews
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MEMBERSHIP
Since 2010 ARC has consistently argued it is a total no brainer to invest in HMRC, rather than cut it. It has formed the basis for every submission to a parliamentary committee, to the Treasury on the Budget, and to the Department in terms of pay negotiations. To give an example, the 2014 submission on the Autumn Statement read: “Closing the Tax Gap: Since 2009 ARC has advocated proposals to close the tax gap as an additional alternative to public sector cuts or tax increases. ARC members tackle the biggest tax risks, whether as tax professionals, policy makers, lawyers, accountants or managers. In a very real sense they deliver for the nation. Their work brought in the lion’s share of the £23.9bn tax gap closure delivered by HMRC in 13/14.” Over the last three years we have arcnews
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organised three very successful Parliamentary events, all attended by a range of ministers, shadow ministers, MPs, journalists, non-governmental organisations, the Confederation of British Industry, lawyers and tax professionals. Every meeting had the same message and one which now seems to have almost become the default position. After last year’s Tax Gap figures were published ARC, issued ARC Update 30. Part of that read:
I ALSO BELIEVE THE CONCERNS WE ADDRESS ARE RELEVANT TO ALL MEMBERS. ‘BREAD AND BUTTER ISSUES’ ARE NOT DELINEATED BY WHICH PROFESSION YOU ARE IN.
“Frank Haskew, head of Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales tax faculty, said that HMRC is making steady progress in reducing the relative size of the tax gap. The government has been investing more in this area and it appears to be paying off, but clearly HMRC needs to keep spending in this area if it is to continue reducing the tax gap year on year. We would like to see assurances from the Chancellor in next month’s Autumn Statement that HMRC will be protected from further budget cuts and instead should be given more resources to improve service standards and reduce the tax gap. Given the substantial reduction in staff and budget over the years, HMRC deserves credit for making this progress and we believe that with additional resources the ‘tax gap’ could be made even smaller”. • 25
HELEN BAIRD-PARKER HIGHLIGHTS MENOPAUSE AWARENESS MONTH.
Menopause in the workplace HELEN BAIRDPARKER
READING THE WRITTEN RESPONSES HAS A DEPRESSING FAMILIARITY. THE THINGS REPEATED MOST OFTEN ARE THAT THERE IS A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING AND EMPATHY, AND A COMPLETE LACK OF RECOGNITION IN THE WORKPLACE.
today arcunion.org.uk/menopause 26
S
ARC Equality and Diversity Officer
eptember was menopause awareness month. On Tuesday 13 September, ARC ran an event jointly with the Gender Network and the Wellbeing team. Ruth Owen, HMRC’s Gender Champion, introduced the talk which was aimed at raising awareness of menopausal symptoms and how they can affect women at work. It’s an especially common issue in HMRC given our workforce demographic – most employees are aged over 45. Ruth explained that it’s a really important issue for her and one she takes seriously. She’s experiencing it personally and, with 55% of the Department being women and more than 50% aged over 45, it could be that a quarter of staff are going through this right now. It’s vital that this is an issue that we are able to talk about. She encouraged everyone to think about the issue and what we can all do locally to raise awareness. Debbie Hayman of RIS and the coordinator of the confidential dial-in on menopause talked about her personal experiences in the workplace, following her own diagnosis two years ago. Debbie had a really difficult time, and her frank discussion about her own experiences how it affected her at work, and how she came through it and regained her
confidence, was really powerful. Debbie explained that while menopause is not an illness, it can make you ill, and she was very unwell. Some of the symptoms can be difficult to deal with at work. Debbie mentioned that it’s much less common for more senior women – such as ARC members – to talk about their issues in the workplace. I’m not sure why this is, but I wonder if we are both more prone to trying to just struggle on with challenging and stressful jobs, and less likely to admit that there are issues for fear of being treated differently or having our professionalism or competence questioned. The people in the room talked about their own experiences and asked questions about the help available. Linda Ridgers-Waite of the Wellbeing team explained what help is already available in HMRC. Workplace Wellness can offer support to everyone including managers, and can help you to think about how to frame your conversations. Reasonable adjustments are available, even though menopause is a condition, not a disability. You can agree adjustments with your manager and have them recorded in a passport. Occupational health and the reasonable adjustment support team are available to assist. There is a sickness absence code that you can use: 03. The talk was in London, but we know that women in all locations need help and support too, and we’re thinking about to do that. I’ll be arranging more talks in future, and so please get in touch if you’d like to be involved, especially if you’d like to tell your own story as Debbie has done. ARC currently has a survey open on arcnews
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MENOPAUSE
menopause (see our website for details), and if you haven’t already completed it, I’d really like to hear from you if you’ve been affected, or you have suggestions for what we can do to improve things in HMRC. So far I’ve had more than 800 responses (although only 200 from ARC members – I’d really like to hear from more of you) and I have lots of useful feedback which I’m discussing in my consultations with HMRC. Reading the written responses has a depressing familiarity. The things repeated most often are that there is a lack of understanding and empathy, and a complete lack of recognition in the workplace. Women often talk about being mocked, or more seriously, having their competence or performance questioned while not receiving any support for their symptoms. It can be extremely arcnews
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difficult and embarrassing to discuss, both because people fear being treated less favourably (many women report that they have been) and because some of the symptoms can be very unpleasant and there is a taboo around discussing them, especially with men. The most common problematic symptoms affecting women at work are temperature (made worse by the lack of availability of fans) and cognitive issues: brain fog, confusion, memory issues. Lack of sleep can be a real problem. All of these can add to a loss of confidence and anxiety. Less common are mood problems, but lots of women talk about being dismissed as a moody woman or having their experience trivialised. Women would like flexibility – to be able to start later, for example, if they’ve had a bad night
– other reasonable adjustments, and someone they can talk to in the workplace. Almost everyone wishes there was more information and guidance available, and better education and training for managers. The complete absence of HR policy or intranet guidance adds to the sense that this is not a serious issue, or that older women’s issues are not as serious as the other issues upon which there’s plentiful guidance – mental health conditions, other diversity issues. ARC is working with the Department to address these issues. • PLEASE GIVE US YOUR EXPERIENCES AND FEEDBACK ON THIS TOPIC. WE HAVE SET UP AN AREA ON THE WEBSITE FOR DISCUSSION AND WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU: ARCUNION.ORG.UK/ MENOPAUSE
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today
TRAINEES
JULIE BLAYNEY & JOSH FLEW
Trainees update THESE TRAINEES WILL BE QUICKLY INTO THE LEARNING MATERIAL SO YOU MAY NOT SEE THEM AS MUCH AS YOU MIGHT HAVE DONE WITH NEW TRAINEES IN PREVIOUS YEARS.
T
here are several things going on at the moment around trainees and trainee issues, and it is difficult to keep up with all of the changes even when dealing with trainees in both the day job and in ARC. Here are the highlights for those of you who might have missed some of these changes.
TSP16 Two hundred new trainees arrived in the middle of September, and went straight to Lawress Hall for their induction to HMRC where, among other sessions, they heard from a member of ARC Committee on the importance of union membership. Several offices organise ARC events to welcome the new trainees, and we should hopefully see a significant number of new members. These trainees will be quickly into the learning material so you may not see them as much as you might have done with new trainees in previous years. The course has also been condensed, with the trainees aiming to be promoted in three years’ time.
ICAS
today arcunion.org.uk/rogers-pmr
arcnews
The intake of 2016 trainees also sees the launch of a new, concurrent graduate training programme. The ‘ICAS Route’ is being rolled out on a trial basis to 30 trainees in Manchester, Birmingham and Croydon, with the formal learning requirements being delivered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland. This route will
OCT-NOV 2016: ISSUE 85
see trainees at external training centres for four to six week blocks before similar stints in the office, with the aim of completing their formal training in around two and a half years. Following this, trainees will look to meet the Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) before promotion to Grade 7. They will also receive an externally recognised accountancy qualification. This is a pilot, and ARC has been working with the Tax Academy to give our thoughts on the process. There will be a review next year, and ARC will be involved in that review.
TSP17 Recruitment For the last 20 years, recruitment onto the Tax Specialist Programme (TSP) and its predecessor courses has been via internally-run Assessment Centres, using HMRC assessors. The plan for the 2017 process, which is not far off from starting now, was for it to be part of the Civil Service Fast Stream process. This would therefore have involved HMRC assessors, but would also have included Civil Service Assessors, and the centres would not be exclusively for HMRC applicants. However, as this is a generic process for the whole Fast Stream, there are some things that HMRC used to be able to provide which the new process would not, such accelerated applicants, candidates for HO jobs and TSP branding. This has led to a reconsideration and the process will continue internally again this year. For TSP18 recruitment onwards, we will need to wait and see what happens! • 29
today
arcunion.org.uk/key-contacts/arc-committee/
Committee’s roles
This is the full ARC Committee for 2016-18 and their roles and responsibilities Business plan responsibilities will be added once roles have been allocated to the new committee. There is a fully searchable version of this on the website.
CONSULTATIONS, ARRANGEMENTS AND TEAMS
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NAME
ROLE
CLO
Vicky Johnson
President
West Midlands, Gloucester, Bristol
Paula Houghton
Deputy President
100PS, Norfolk & Suffolk
Eugene Mitchell
Treasurer
Glasgow
Helen Baird-Parker
Officer
Legal & Governance, South West Wales
Loz Hutton
Officer
Hull & Leeds
Iain Campbell
Officer
Graham Flew
Officer
Cambridge
Julie Blayney
Officer
North East
David Cooper
Officer
Sheffield
Blair Gardner
Committee Member
Jim Rogers
Committee Member
South Coast, Canterbury
Amy Carr
Committee Member
Liverpool
Spencer Munn
Committee Member
London Euston Tower
Kenny Mitchell
Committee Member
Northern Ireland
Frances Hunter
Committee Member
London BCD
Michelle Wyer
Committee Member
Stratford, Brighton, Croydon
Andy Nixon
Committee Member
Edinburgh
Tony Wallace
Committee Member
Nottingham
Fahad Akhtar
Committee Member
Manchester
Ben Barnett
Committee Member
Nottingham
Josh Flew
Committee Member
Preston
Ashley Falla
Committee Member
Leicester
Heather Morrison
Committee Member
Oxon & Bucks, Reading
Zohra Francis
FDA national officer
Leake Street (FDA head office)
arcnews
OCT-NOV 2016: ISSUE 85
COMMITTEE
CONSULTATION /BUSINESS AREA(LEAD IN BOLD)
PORTFOLIO
BUSINESS PLAN
Tax Assurance Commissioner; Corporate Communications; CFO OD; Corporate Communications; CDIO – Lead; Internal Audit; Aspire; RCDTS; Commercial; Change & Transformation – Lead; C T & S – Lead
Strategic oversight; Organisation & Recruitment; Stakeholder Management; Terms & Conditions; External tax group; Pay; Equal pay; Ways of Working; Change; T & S; BOF
Regional Centre Lead
Chief People Officer – Lead; CPO Finance; CPO HR Policy & Operations; CDIO – HR; HR – Tax Assurance Commissioner; Change & Transformation – Lead
Stakeholder Management; Pay; Terms & Conditions; Ways of Working ; Information ARC; Terms & Conditions; T & S; BOF; Organisation & Recruitment; Attendance & Wellbeing; Health & Safety
Birmingham
Chief Finance Officer – Lead; Corporate Finance; Government Banking; CDIO – Finance; Commisioners Advisory Accountant
Treasurer; SCS
Croydon
SOLS – Lead ; SOLS – PT & Corporate Tax Services; Tax Litigation; SOLS – Business Tax; SOLS – Business change, caseworkers and cross cutting
Equal Pay; Diversity & Inclusion
Glasgow
Business Tax Lead; BT- Financial Performance & Change; BT – HR; BT Ops; CTIS
AGM/Dinner; WFM (BAU)
Cardiff
Customer Service (was PT) – Lead ; PT Finance; PT HR; CDIO-Security & Information; PTCPP
External Stakeholders
Leeds
Benefits and Credits – Lead; Universal Credit; B & C HR; B&C Operations; B&C Customer Strategy & Policy; Universal Credit; B&C Finance
Deputy Treasurer; Facilities Time; Procedures Sub Committee; Facilities Time; Casework
Specialist Sites
Enforcement & Compliance – Lead; WMSB – HNWU; FIS; EC Finance; EC HR; Trainees
arcnews; Website
Bristol
Enforcement & Compliance – Lead; Counter Avoidance; ISBC – SME
Website; AGM/Dinner
Newcastle
ISBC – Other
Website
Manchester
KAI; RIS; CTIS
WFM (BAU); ESS Transformation
SPT; Trainees
Members below G7
Tax Academy; SME
Training & Professionalism
WMSB – MSB
CPD
ESS – Other; Tax Free Childcare
Green Issues; WFM
Belfast
Large Business
External focus; Training and Professinionalism
Stratford
Debt Management
Organisation and Recruitment
Edinburgh
Liverpool
WMBC – APEC
Central Policy
Nottingham
WMSB – HNWU
PMR
Large Business
arcnews; Website arcnews; Website PMR
arcnews
OCT-NOV 2016: ISSUE 85
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Plus, much more. The FDA Portfolio Calculator can help you to discover how much money you can save. FDA Portfolio works hard to secure the very best rates and discounts for you. However, where you see our ‘Price Promise’, if you find a better deal elsewhere, we’ll challenge the provider to both match that rate AND add a little something extra in recognition of your time. Please help to spread the word of FDA Portfolio among your colleagues. Non-members can take a look at the savings they could make if they join. Depending on their circumstances, the cost of ARC membership could be greatly reduced – or even free!
To find out more, visit www.fda.org.uk/FDAPortfolio