Taxpayers might wonder what exactly they’re paying for when HMRC tries to shut down its phone line and designs even more diversity training courses. The situation has got so bad that 89% of business owners now say poor levels of service from the taxman are negatively impacting their ability to work…

Apart from buying half a million pounds’ worth of new furniture, Guido can reveal that the UK’s tax overlords have been racking up an eye-watering bill on planes and taxis since the election. In July and August alone HMRC spent £490,700 on plane travel. It says “the most cost-effective means of travel is always considered prior to bookings of this nature.” That’s reassuring…

At the same time the taxpayer is coughing up about £6,000 a week on private taxis for the taxman to use, running up a £65,703 tab since July. Public transport is for thee, not for me…

While Rachel Reeves goes on about making savings in government, over at HMRC the nation’s tax overlords have been busy designing more “learning products” to enforce the agency’s equality and diversity goals. If only they could be bothered to pick up the phone…

HMRC’s 25-strong Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion team spent 2023 putting together an optional “Building an Inclusive Workplace” training module to “allow colleagues to upskill themselves in inclusive practices.” That’s £4 million in salaries for woke jobs well spent…

It turns out the training is so boring that the EDI team itself can’t even be bothered to do it. Guido can reveal that as of last month a measly 4 out of 25 had bothered to complete it. A completion rate of 16% – no inclusivity here…

HMRC have hit a record-breaking low, with sackings for gross misconduct now at a five-year high, as 179 tax office drones have been booted so far this year alone. A whopping 43% surge since 2020…

Gross misconduct includes bullying, intoxication, theft and gross negligence. One such model employee ended up behind bars earlier this year after abusing her position to scam £300,000 in child benefit. HMRC staff haven’t had the best track record, with 840,000 callers to the bureaucratic overlords ignored in January. Meanwhile the new-age “flexible working” has seen the pen-pushers concentrating on gaming on their PlayStations and “gardening” rather than deal with the taxpayers who keep them employed. Now it seems even the ones who make it into the office can’t seem to get the job done…

Rachel Reeves pledged to fund schools and the NHS by cracking down on tax fraud—a proposal that seems fair. In theory…

Yet, in practice, Labour is targeting fraud on tax credits that benefit entrepreneurs, rather than say, widespread welfare fraud. In a bid to tackle alleged abuse of R&D tax credits (tax rebates for innovation spending), UK startups are now being told they must repay hundreds of thousands of pounds to HMRC after it decided claims were mistakenly issued. The move has left many SMEs fearing for their survival…

Multiple startup CEOs say that the government forcing repayment and subsequent rejected tax credit claims will render them penniless. One company, which won awards for innovation and was clearly eligible for the tax rebate, is now facing the taxman demanding repayment, likely leading to its collapse. While there may be some bad apples in the small business industry, HMRC’s excessive clampdown on tax rebates will stifle startups and innovation. So much for pro-growth Labour…

If civil servants working from home weren’t costing the taxpayer enough already, HMRC staff who are cosily working from home have managed to lose a whopping £1 million worth of phones and laptops in just three years. Last year’s figures reveal that these home-working heroes lost around 10 mobile phones and two laptops every single week…

In the same time, our diligent tax collectors also reported 95 phones, 562 laptops, and one memory device as stolen. If sensitive information being nicked doesn’t raise enough alarm bells to make officials rethink the shirking from home trend, what will…

Any one of the 840,000 callers to HMRC who went ignored in January can safely assume that civil servants were busy elsewhere –  at home “taking the cats for a walk” and “gardening“. According to a whistleblower in the department, HMRC’s new-age commitment to “flexible working” has led to paper shufflers concentrating on gaming on their PlayStations rather than deal with the taxpayers who keep them employed. No wonder they kicked up such a fuss when John Glen criticised them for still shirking from home… 

This is apparently an “open secret” within pencil-pushing circles, yet they still claim to be “under-resourced”. Still, they did have enough to find £4.5 million down the back of the sofa for “diversity coordinators”. Good to know the blob’s got their priorities straight…