By any standards, income tax today is big business.
As a publisher, the Inland Revenue produces 12.5 million leaflets a year, with 160 titles currently in print.
As a direct mail organisation, nine million mailings to those affected by Self Assessment was big -but not exceptional. Those mailings were all to named individuals, and all contained only relevant information - guidance for pensioners, the self-employed or company directors, for example.
The telephone - invented in 1875 - made relatively little impact for income tax purposes for the next 100 years. But its importance as a tool of customer service has grown enormously in recent years. Of eight million people issued with Self Assessment tax returns in April 1997, for example, half-a-million had telephoned for help within six months.
In computers, the first on-line system for assessing tax went live nationally in 1984. At the time, it was the largest on-line system in Europe, with a network growing to over 50,000 terminals. More recently, a system to support Self Assessment was introduced with virtually no IT problems and very little down time. It affects nine million taxpayers and a large proportion of the Inland Revenue’s staff.
... and a big employer
Today, over 50,000 people are employed directly by the Board of Inland Revenue, but many times that number work in various areas of taxation around the country. They include tax advisers, accountants, lawyers and their support staffs, and they are represented by various professional bodies who work with the Inland Revenue to clarify and simplify tax matters. The main professional bodies, and the two Inland Revenue trade unions, are:
Professional Bodies
The Chartered Institute of Taxation is the senior professional body in the United Kingdom concerned solely with all aspects of taxation. It has a broadly-based membership across the professions and across occupations in industry, commerce, the public sector and the taxation authorities. Members have the practising title of ‘Chartered Tax Adviser’.
The Association of Taxation Technicians was established in 1989
to provide a taxation qualification for those concerned with tax compliance
employed in industry, commerce and the public sector, as well as those
employed in professional practices. It is a companion body of the Chartered
Institute of Taxation.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland is the oldest professional body of accountants in the world. Members advise clients on taxation matters or are involved with taxation within their own businesses.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is the largest professional accountancy body in Europe with a membership of 113,000. About half the active members are employed in private practice, and half in industry, finance and commerce. The institute established a Faculty of Taxation in 1991.Members of
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants are concerned with the preparation of management accounts, including the financial planning of business strategy, the options available and the relevant taxation implications.
Trade Unions
Public and Commercial Services is the union representing most
members of the Inland Revenue. Formed from the Inland Revenue Staff Federation
(IRSF), it is regarded as one of the most dynamic of Civil Service unions.
Douglas Houghton, the first General Secretary, was ‘the most outstanding
white collar trade union leader of his day’ - according to James
(now Lord) Callaghan, his Assistant Secretary for three years and later
Prime Minister.
Union of Senior Revenue Officials represents 2,500 senior managers, including Board members - around 90% of those eligible to join. Active throughout the century as both an independent trade union and a professional association, in recent years it also became a section of the First Division Association (FDA) which represents the most senior grades across the Civil Service.
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