ACCA responds to Chancellor’s statement re Paul Gray’s resignation
Allen Blewitt, Chief Executive of ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) offers the following views in response to today’s announcement from the Chancellor regarding HMRC:
“ACCA is alarmed at today’s announcement by the Chancellor, and especially that errors within HM Revenue & Customs have come to a head in such a way. We always knew there were issues with the department, and in the early stages of the merger from Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise into HMRC, teething problems could be expected.”
“But after today’s announcement, it is apparent that the problems are more deep rooted and endemic.”
“The work of HMRC touches practically everyone in the country and ACCA is very concerned at the security breaches, especially regarding tax credits. Tax payers need to know that their details are being treated with respect. Paul Gray’s resignation today shows just how serious the security breaches are. But Paul Gray has done the right and honourable thing. By losing details in such a way, HMRC will now have to deal with the extra administrative burden of advising concerned child benefit / tax credit recipients – reported to be some 25 million individuals.
“However, amidst the shock at what’s happened, we mustn’t forget that HMRC operates in a highly complex environment and this is at the heart of the problem. While it performs a crucial, intricate and difficult job, HMRC has too much to achieve in too little time with too many customers. The working culture of the organisation needs improvement.”
“HMRC is feeling the hangover of this complex transition from two bodies into one. ACCA said when David Varney, previous Chairman resigned in summer 2006, that his successor at HMRC needed to take action to ensure that customer service is at the top of the organisation’s agenda, and that taxpayers are treated fairly.”
In conclusion, Allen Blewitt says: “We questioned in July 2003, when a merger between the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise was being planned, whether it would work. While ACCA was positive about the merger to create a single tax body, hindsight proves to be a wonderful thing, because we said “the problems of a merger between two such distinct bodies gives little grounds for confidence that it would succeed.”
“But ACCA wants HMRC to succeed. We want it to be a confident and capable department and we look forward to working with the new head of HMRC in the future. After all, we are an expert organisation in corporate, business and personal taxation issues and we want to support this beleaguered department through this difficult phase.”