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Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102969900
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 40
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Book Description
HM Revenue & Customs faces a significant challenge in securing a £1.6 billion reduction in running costs over the next four years, at the same time as increasing tax revenues, improving customer service and achieving reductions in welfare payments. HMRC has reported savings of some £1.4 billion since 2005. To achieve its cost reductions it plans to implement 24 change projects and other measures including savings in the provision of IT services, improvements in productivity, reduced sickness absence and headcount reductions. The size and shape of HMRC will change substantially as it reduces staff numbers by 10,000 and significantly reduces the number of offices it operates. HMRC has established a clear vision and specified operational priorities and revenue targets. It has not yet sufficiently defined the business performance and customer service it intends to achieve by 2015. It has good information on the different costs it incurs but only limited information on the cost of its end-to-end processes and on the cost of servicing different customers groups. It also has a limited understanding of the link between the cost and value of its activities. This has restricted its ability to assess fully the impact of cost reductions on business performance. HMRC has made no allowance in its cost reduction plans for under-delivery or slippage, and currently has no reserve of proposals on which to draw. HMRC has begun to implement its cost reduction plans but has not yet assessed all the dependencies between projects and the critical path for delivery.
Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102969900
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 40
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Book Description
HM Revenue & Customs faces a significant challenge in securing a £1.6 billion reduction in running costs over the next four years, at the same time as increasing tax revenues, improving customer service and achieving reductions in welfare payments. HMRC has reported savings of some £1.4 billion since 2005. To achieve its cost reductions it plans to implement 24 change projects and other measures including savings in the provision of IT services, improvements in productivity, reduced sickness absence and headcount reductions. The size and shape of HMRC will change substantially as it reduces staff numbers by 10,000 and significantly reduces the number of offices it operates. HMRC has established a clear vision and specified operational priorities and revenue targets. It has not yet sufficiently defined the business performance and customer service it intends to achieve by 2015. It has good information on the different costs it incurs but only limited information on the cost of its end-to-end processes and on the cost of servicing different customers groups. It also has a limited understanding of the link between the cost and value of its activities. This has restricted its ability to assess fully the impact of cost reductions on business performance. HMRC has made no allowance in its cost reduction plans for under-delivery or slippage, and currently has no reserve of proposals on which to draw. HMRC has begun to implement its cost reduction plans but has not yet assessed all the dependencies between projects and the critical path for delivery.
Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102981278
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 48
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Book Description
In challenging circumstances in 2011-12, HM Revenue and Customs maintained its performance in key strategic areas at the same time as reducing its staff and spending. The challenge for HMRC will be to make more and deeper reductions over the spending review period while increasing tax revenues, improving customer service and introducing its 'real time information' project and changes to benefits and credits. HMRC made £296 million of savings in 2011-12, exceeding its target by 19 per cent. This is about a third of the total savings it is required to make over the four years of the spending review period. However, HMRC expects these projects to save £162 million less over the spending review period than when the NAO last reported on this subject, in July 2011. This is partly because its forecasts are now more refined and realistic, and partly because, as some projects took longer to start, the benefits will take longer to be realised. HMRC has strengthened how it manages its change programme in ways that address NAO and Public Accounts Committee recommendations. The Department has also started to address the recommendations that it should improve its understanding of interdependencies between projects and of the cost and value of its activities though it has more to do in these areas. At September 2012, HMRC was on track to exceed its 2012-13 cost reduction target by £29 million. However, the reduction in planned savings being delivered by change projects means that HMRC needs to find £66 million more savings than it originally planned through other initiatives
Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102980561
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 44
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Book Description
This report recognizes that HMRC has restored customer service levels from a low point in 2010, when problems with the new National Insurance and PAYE system increased the number of queries. HMRC has now dealt with long-term backlogs by employing 2,500 temporary staff, enhancing phone technology and improving productivity. In 2011-12, HMRC answered 74 per cent of phone calls, against an interim target of 58 per cent. This level of service is nevertheless low. So far in 2012-13, HMRC has improved its handling of post but its performance in handling calls has been varied. Depending on the tariff they pay their phone company, customers are charged from when their call is connected even if they are held in a queue. The NAO estimates that it cost customers £33 million in call charges while they are in the queue. Most of HMRC's numbers are still 0845 numbers which result in high call charges for some customers. It is, however, investigating alternatives. NAO analysis indicates that, by the end of 2012-13 and through 2013-14, HMRC could achieve its target of answering 90 per cent of calls. However, by 2014-15, HMRC will have reduced numbers of contact centre staff so will need to redeploy large numbers of back-office processing staff to answer telephones. There is also uncertainty about the impact on call volumes of large-scale changes, such as the introduction of Real Time Information and the transition to universal credit.
Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102969979
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 40
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Book Description
HMRC's programme to increase online filing of tax returns has made significant progress. HMRC was set an ambitious timetable to expand the use of online filing and now more than 11.5 million customers a year are submitting one or more tax returns online, generating significant savings. Take-up rates have increased significantly, particularly after mandatory online filing requirements have come into force. Nevertheless, take-up rates on some taxes (VAT, Corporation Tax and Self-Assessment) have been below original forecasts and HMRC has lowered its forecasts in the light of take-up achieved so far. Customers generally recognise the efficiencies and practical benefits that online filing offers although HMRC has yet to measure whether the anticipated benefits and costs to customers are being achieved in practice. Some users have concerns about the costs and usability of filing VAT and Corporation Tax returns online, and about delays in getting login details to access the Self-Assessment online service during peak periods. Levels of satisfaction with the assistance offered through various helpdesks also vary. Online filing is delivering significant savings to HMRC, an estimated £126 million so far. HMRC cannot demonstrate whether it is maximising benefits as it does not yet fully understand the relative costs of dealing with paper and online returns or the costs and benefits of seeking greater take-up.
Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102987072
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 56
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Book Description
Gift Aid provides an important source of income for many charities but it is important that they are properly administered. There is not enough evidence to conclude that reliefs on donations in their current form, and the way they are implemented, provide value for money. First, there is insufficient evidence that government has actively encouraged take-up of the reliefs so that those charities which are entitled to them get the intended benefits. Secondly, HMRC has not collected the data which would enable it to conclude how tax incentives since 2000 have affected donor behavior or if they have increased the value of donations. Changes introduced in April 2000 were intended to encourage more people to give more to charity. HMRC undertook evaluative work but this did not provide assurance that they had resulted in more income for charities. HMRC also faces a serious compliance challenge in respect of reliefs on donations, in particular from avoidance. While the proportion of charities set up to abuse charitable status is very small, the cumulative costs of small-scale avoidance activity are large, accounting for £110 million of tax lost in 2012-13. HMRC has also identified eight marketed avoidance schemes, which it is challenging robustly, estimating that they are putting £217 million of tax at risk. The Department has made a working estimate that £170 million was lost in 2012-13, based on its analysis of tax loss in related areas. However, it recognizes that its methodology is crude and may understate the level of loss
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Treasury Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215561039
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 206
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Book Description
This report identified serious concerns in a number of areas, including: unacceptable difficulties contacting HMRC by phone during peak periods; endemic delays in responding to post; and an increasing focus on online communication that may exclude those without reliable internet access. The Committee recognises that the Department performs a crucial role and operates under significant external pressures including continuing resource reductions, deficiencies in tax legislation and the legacy of the merger. It also acknowledges the commitment of management to tackling these problems and the dedication and professionalism of HMRC staff. However, it concluded that the Department has a difficult few years ahead of it, as it attempts to improve its service. The Committee makes recommendations in the following areas: Improving the service provided by contact centres; providing robust alternative to online contact; ensuring greater awareness of the impact of process changes on individuals and businesses; ensuring reductions in resources are managed in a way that is commensurate with the enabling IT and process improvements and minimises the loss of Departmental tax expertise; reviewing the division of responsibilities between HMRC and HM Treasury in relation to making tax policy, to ensure practical considerations are taken into account at the earliest possible stage; better targeting of letters that threaten serious consequences against individuals; having the National Audit Office externally audit preparations for Real-time Information, to ensure Ministers can be held accountable for progress against the Government's ambitious timetable; and examining how the Department can achieve better accountability around the settlement of large tax cases
Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780102975376
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 44
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Book Description
This report by the National Audit Office on progress by central government departments in reducing costs concludes that departments took effective action in 2010-11, cutting spending in real terms by 2.3 per cent or £7.9 billion, compared with 2009-10. The analysis of departments' accounts supports the Efficiency and Reform Group's estimate that Government spending moratoria and efficiency initiatives, including cuts to back-office and avoidable costs, contributed around half of the figure, some £3.75 billion. However, the report warns that departments are less well-placed to make the long-term changes needed to achieve the further 19 per cent over the four years to 2014-15, as required by the spending review. This is partly because of gaps in their understanding of costs and risks, making it more difficult to identify how to deliver activities and services at a permanently lower cost. Fundamental changes will be needed to achieve sustainable reductions on the scale required. It is unclear how far spending reductions represent year-on-year changes in efficiency, or whether front-line services are affected; and the departments' forward plans examined by the NAO are not based on a strategic view. Departments' financial data on basic spending patterns is sufficient to manage budgets in-year, but information about the consequences of changes in spending is less good. Longer term reform is a Cabinet Office priority and departments will need to look beyond short-term cost cutting measures and make major operational change. Cost reduction plans also need to build in contingency measures to cover unexpected risks.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215043818
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 36
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Book Description
The National Audit Office report on this topic published as HC 1788, session 2010-12 (ISBN 9780102975376)
Author: Colin Barrow
Publisher: Kogan Page Publishers
ISBN: 0749459778
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 184
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Book Description
Cost cutting is an issue for every manager and executive at every level in every company, large or small, public or private sector. Junior managers who are proactively tight on cost are learning good habits for the future, ones that will bring them recognition and advance their climb up the organizational chart. The HR department is now staffed with tough cost managers dealing with the most difficult cost category, people. Marketing departments now focus on how to get higher returns from less spend. Cut Costs Not Corners has a coherent and structured approach to cost cutting as a permanent activity, combined with guidance on the practical steps to take and powerful international case studies. It covers strategic and tactical cost cutting options such as analysing space needs, buying technology for less, selling off redundant assets, reducing credit risk, reviewing distribution methods, sourcing new suppliers or consolidating existing ones, advertising for less, changing the route to market, travel and utility savings, minimising finance and tax costs, crisis measures - freezing recruitment, delaying pay rises, sell and lease back assets - keeping budgets rolling and using a daily cash flow model.
Author: Great Britain: H.M. Revenue & Customs
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0101710720
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 86
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Book Description
Dated May 2007. On cover: Integrating and growing stronger. Spring 2007
