Taxman customer service troubles unmasked and probate problems in the spotlight

This is Money Podcast

This is Money

Business News, Business, Investing, News

4.1 • 650 Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2023

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When it comes to HM Revenue & Customs, it's safe to say that many business owners and accountants have become well-acquainted with chaos.

The push for a digital tax system has left some waiting months to receive basic tax information - and following a This is Money investigation, where we spoke to someone inside the madness, we have received an avalanche of taxman woe.

This week, Angharad Carrick, Tanya Jefferies, Lee Boyce and Georgie Frost reveal what's been going on - and whether customer service has become worse.

Meanwhile, being an executor is a great responsibility - and it can be a nightmare.

Stephen Gold is a retired judge and author who recently acted as executor for his beloved late aunt.

The process eventually saw him force a string of banks, finance firms and institutions pay compensation for unacceptable errors and delay.

His torrid experience led him to produce a three-part series and we talk about why companies must get the bereavement service right.

We saw the 14th rate rise on the bounce from the Bank of England this week. It's up to 5.25 from 5 per cent and expectations are for another rise or two to come this year before the MPC stop turning the screw.

But have any of the rises helped with inflation? And what will this mean for savings and mortgage rates?

And finally, where do you stand on the great plastic lawn debate? A recent survey suggests that a quarter of people want it banned. But why?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to This Is Money podcast. I'm Georgie Frost and joining me and Lee Boyce today is Ang Harad Carrick and Tanya Jeffries.
0:10.9	And coming up, Chaos at the Tax Office. This is Money has spoken exclusively to an insider to find out what's going so wrong at HMRC that it's leaving business owners in the lurch.
0:22.8	Also today, someone's got to do it, but being an executor can be a right ordeal.
0:28.3	We give you some tips on how to manage.
0:31.2	Plus, rates rise again, but was it the right call from the Bank of England, or is it time to ease off?
0:37.6	Meanwhile, better news for mortgage rates and in one of the oddest polls I think I've seen.
0:43.4	Apparently a quarter of us, Brits, what fake lawns banned?
0:48.1	What's plastic grass done to us?
0:51.4	Don't forget you stay up to date with all the latest breaking money news,
0:53.4	just go to this ismoney.co.uk or download the app. Don't forget you stay up to date with all the latest breaking money news, just go to this ismoney.co.com.
0:55.0	UK or download the app.
0:57.0	Don't forget, you can stay on top of what's going on in the markets by tuning in to the Digest and Invest podcast by Itara.
1:03.0	Go to your regular podcast platform and listen on the go. Digest and Invest by Itora, the podcast for those interested in trading and investing.
1:10.0	But first, making tax digital was meant to make the tax system more efficient and painless for everyone.
1:16.6	Alas, like all the best government plans, things went a little awry at HMRC.
1:22.3	The push for digital has left some people waiting months to receive basic tax information.
1:27.1	The seasonal closure of the self-assessment helpline until September... has left some people waiting months to receive basic tax information.
1:31.5	The seasonal closure of the self-assessment helpline until September has drawn particular ire from business owners who needed to send their quarterly tax return by the 31st of July,
1:37.7	and it comes just a short while after the permanent closure of the HMRC VAT registration helpline.
1:46.6	Now one insider has been speaking to this is money and telling them what it's really like to work there. And this is your story,
1:52.3	is it not? First, what am I talking about in making tax digital for anyone unlike myself who doesn't
1:58.6	have to go through the painful process of anything related to getting in contact with the tax office.
	...

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