Diane Coulson, Employer representative
Tracy Crank, Employer representative
Alison Paling, Employer representative
Pauline Dunham, Employer representative
Mark Smith, Employer representative
Brian Comber, Employer representative
Alison McCrave, Employer representative
Josie Smith, Employer representative
Dave Whitaker, Employer representative
Sarah Eason, Employer representative
Rhonda Howlader, HMRC Chair
Nahid Khan, HMRC Secretariat
Nick Chaplin, HMRC
Steve Shorrock, HMRC
Helen Latham, HMRC
David Lewis, HMRC
Polly Parrott, Employer representative
Phyllis Freedman, Employer representative
Denis Madden, Employer representative
Lynette Knight, Employer representative
Graham Francis, Employer representative
Nicky Williams, Employer representative
Carol Swift, Employer representative
Alison Bainbridge HMRC
Nahid Khan
Tel: 0191 225 3950
Email: Nahid Khan
Rhonda introduced new members – Mark Smith and Diane Coulson
New late penalties regime- David Lewis/Helen Latham
David Lewis gave background to late penalties and said that the 2009 Budget announced proposals to legislate to implement the Powers’ proposals, those dealing with interest and also penalties for late filing and late payment. The changes will-
across all of HMRC's regimes except Customs and Benefits and Credits. It was proposed to deliver fair, clearer, more effective and proportionate regimes, aligned across taxes where sensible, with accessible support. The aim is for more people to file and pay on time, while those who do not will face a more robust reaction from HMRC where there has been prolonged and repeated delay. The package of change has been the subject of extensive consultation. The overall design and details of the legislation reflect stakeholder input to consultations.
David gave a presentation to the panel (PDF 40K)
Members requested further updates as the work progresses and volunteered to assist with HMRC communications.
AP1 - Penalties team to provide further update at the next meeting - cleared.
Nick Chaplin delivered a presentation on the review of the Employer Orderline. He outlined why the review is being carried out, and made clear that, whilst the current system is extremely effective and well supported by employers, HMRC is keen to encourage greater use of electronic forms and use of the web which is faster and more cost effective, in keeping with today's increasingly electronic environment with less emphasis on paper. His presentation gave some facts and figures including how many P14s issued and how many are actually returned. Although a recent survey showed a 97-98 per cent satisfaction rating of the Orderline, statistics show that employers are over-ordering paper supplies which is inefficient and costly. Members were clear in their endorsement of the current system and set out the implications of withdrawing the paper Orderline to electronic delivery of forms. The main points raised were:
NC listened to views and said that HMRC will take account of a wide range of customer views across all employer segments before agreeing any recommendations. However there may be a need for further consultation and he asked whether members would support this by volunteering for a more detailed user analysis of actual forms at a later stage. He promised to provide further updates as this work progresses.
AP2 - NC to invite volunteers to a Forms workshop - Cleared.
AP3 - NC to provide latest update at next meeting
Work is underway to produce a downloadable CD-ROM. The new system will allow Employers to opt in to receiving an electronic version of the Employer CD-ROM by downloading this from the Internet. It will be more efficient for employers and HMRC as employers would have continuous access to the latest version without needing to rely on the traditional Employer Pack which would be replaced by an email alert. Any changes to the CD-ROM would be immediate. The Panel thought that would be fantastic if automatically updated each time they accessed it although there were a few concerns on whether it would affect the users PC as in slowing other systems down, but RH confirmed that it would not affect performance although the first download would take several minutes, later downloads would not. RH is hoping to trial it with PCP and promised more updates as this work moves forward.
The new PAYE Service (NPS) and Work Management system went live in June and has changed the way HMRC staff in Customer Operations do their job. Under the previous COP system there were several regional databases containing PAYE accounts and these were not linked. The NI and PAYE Service (NPS) brings these together under a single system. The new system has proven to be extremely successful and although there have been some teething problems, this is to be expected when introducing a new system of this size and complexity. The main issues have been around coding notices, age allowances for agent authorisation and work. Further updates to the system are due in December and April as it moves towards full functionality.
The panel split in to two groups and discussed the problems they have encountered since the introduction of NPS. Comments were noted on flip charts to be carried forward.
Members asked for a further update at the next meeting. RH also informed members that HMRC welcomes employer input into ensuring that NPS continues to provide a quality service to employers and their employees and we intend to involve members in this by setting up a specific panel dealing with issues falling out of NPS as it moves into a fully live service. Volunteers were asked to sit on this group.
AP4 - RH to request speaker from PSN to be invited for next meeting.
AP5 - RH to request volunteers for new NPS Live subgroup. - Cleared.
CIS return not on CD-ROM, would like to know why isn’t it included on the P32?
AP6 - RH to investigate and report back.
Carter mailings - are we still sending out?
AP7 - RH to investigate and report back.
P46-5t-not addressed properly- why isn't this in A4? Needed to confirm with new address.
AP8 - RH to take up with SS.
Student Loan, - P45, part 2 - Why isn't the yes box nearer the question, it's very easy to miss the Student Loan box.
AP9 - RH to raise with Student Loan team. Cleared, awaiting a reply.
Employees using new HMRC online change of address- very positive feedback and welcomed by members
AP10 - RH to feed this back to Online Services Team - Cleared.
Date of next meeting 8 December .
