Digital tax: 'HMRC wants a direct link to everyone's bank accounts'

[jadex]

Re: Digital tax: 'HMRC wants a direct link to everyone's bank accounts'

The next step will be to link data from your bank to retailers' databases.
For now you can hide you bought fags, whisky and lager from Tesco - you can always say it was milk, butter and jam.
But when your transaction will be linked to receipt number and then everything on that receipt will be open for investigation?
Scary things. But I AM SURE some not-so-clever folks will jump on and say: if you have nothing to hide then you shouldn't worry.... yeah, sure.
At the moment you even do not know who is watching you on CCTV (as some cities cut their expenses and hired "volunteers" - I'd call them stalkers.)

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Digital tax: 'HMRC wants a direct link to everyone's bank accounts'

I think its scary big brother stuff, from an organization whose 'advisors' have been tested, and shown to provide, incorrect advice 25% of the time, not to mention the numerous other times they make mistakes and cock things up.

The arrogant attitude that is then displayed because its almost impossible to make them accountable is cause for concern.

This move will just force more people to return to using cash and doing things 'off the books', and is likely to do nothing to improve tax collection, but instead screw down on the 'little people'.

And once HMRC start collecting that data (seriously individual items on your bank statement!), that is just the thin end of the wedge. Who else will then be given that data down the line?

When you put this in the backdrop of 'big data analytics', its scary what our government organizations, and big corporations, are starting to stick their noses into.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Digital tax: 'HMRC wants a direct link to everyone's bank accounts'

As my Accountant, I'd be devastated if they messed with you SXGuy.

Its pretty crap. But there's always ways around things - before long someone will invent / create a bypassing system of sorts

[SXGuy]

Re: Digital tax: 'HMRC wants a direct link to everyone's bank accounts'

It goes further than this. What hmrc plan to do is basically either destroy or regulate the accountancy industry to the point where it is destroyed. Accountants are leaving the profession on a daily basis now because of what hmrc wish to do. If a tax payer is late paying his tax on a continuous basis his accountant will be given a strike. To many strikes and he will be blacklisted and cut off from access to client data. It appears we are being punished for something we have no control over. Hmrc are reducing their work force all the time whilst trying to find new ways to generate revenue. Which can only mean more inspections. With the fall of accountants tax payers will end up paying more than what is due in the attempt to keep hmrc off their back. It's a very sad day and I'd advise everyone to please sign the petition to stop what they are trying to do as we will all lose in the end

[AAD News Feed]

Digital tax: 'HMRC wants a direct link to everyone's bank accounts'

This is a duplicate of the Blog Entry made on: 31st January 2016 08:35

Have you filed your return by today's deadline? Next time the process will be different as HMRC rolls out new, digital services

Accountants, privacy experts, politicians and charities are voicing growing concerns about HMRC’s ambitions to “fully digitise” the tax return system. They claim that vulnerable groups will be penalised for not wanting to use the internet, that the quantity of data sought by HMRC will hugely increase administrative costs, and that the trend to push everything online will result in far more tax investigations without necessarily raising extra revenue.

- Self-assessment January 2016: people filing at the last minute hit by HSBC's online failures

They also predict that – whatever it says to the contrary – HMRC’s ultimate intention is to obtain highly detailed data “equivalent to the individual entries on a bank statement”. This is likely to result in more frequent and earlier demands for payment. There are two prongs to HMRC’s push to “create the most digitally advanced tax system in the world”. One is the introduction of “personal tax accounts” for all individuals, aimed at the majority of people whose tax affairs are relatively simple and who don’t have accountants. Here, individuals’ online tax accounts will be updated automatically by HMRC with information it has obtained from other sources. You would log on, for instance, and see entries relating to your wages or pension, any taxable benefits you receive, such as the state pension, and any interest earned on your savings in bank or building society accounts......Read more here