Butcher & Co

For those people who have been confused by the Revenue's new National Insurance and PAYE service which has been in the early part of this year has been scoring very highly on the incompetence points system, I have found a bit on their website. If you click on the home page about multiple or incorrect coding notices, this takes you to another page which basically explains that the new system started and that has "brought to light some discrepancies in our existing records and this is resulting in a number of incorrect coding notices being issued". They go on to say they've completed their review etc and they're doing all they can to ensure that no one pays too much tax.

However, you then get to "What should you do?" page and there is an option to click to find out about more tax codes and coding notices, if you click on this you get to another one, heading tax codes which has ten sub headings that are starting even at this level to become semi technical, littered with unexplained acronyms and so on. I tried, just for the hell of it, to click on "Tax codes the basics" and this took me to another page, it just went on forever.

I think broadly the answer is that if you don't understand how the tax system works relative to people who are employed or in receipt of pensions, then you haven't really got a cat in hell's chance and you have got to go and talk to an accountant or a tax consultant of some kind to get it explained.

The record so far in this office is 5 separate coding notices for one person on one pension issued on the same day.

Submitted by Butcher & Co on Wednesday 28th July 2010