Hartnett bullshit I was wrong apology

Joe Lynam BBC News

Analysis

image of Joe Lynam
As apologies go, this was not the most fulsome. Mr Hartnett - under major political pressure - said he was sorry if his original words had offended. He did not simply say I'm sorry, I was wrong. He continued to obliquely blame the changes on teething problems with the new IT system.
That the Chancellor himself should need to intervene is a measure of just how annoyed the wider public is at discovering that their tax affairs are no longer in order as well as how embarrassing this whole episode has been for HMRC and the Treasury itself.
Apologies aside (however conditional), 1.4 million people will still have to cough up more than they thought and for some it may end up being a largeand punitive proportion of their disposable income.
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how to deal with the letters and how to submit an A19 concession

Low Incomes Tax Reform Group will publish information on its website (www.litrg.org.uk) about how to deal with the letters and how to submit an A19 concession

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group (LITRG) is the result of the Chartered Institute of Taxation to give a exposure ,so that taxpayers can handle and say what is reason able and who do not usually to pay for tax advice.

LITRG is all for bringing HMRC to account when it has let down the low income population; but we are also clear that we want good and accurate information to be provided to those same people.

The millions of tax calculations which will probably be sent out later this year are a result of the new computer system doing its job properly, not through some big mistake.

The mistake on launch of the collection/repayment exercise has been in not preparing the ground properly for the ‘customers’ of HMRC or taking into account adequately the impact upon low income families.

PAYE is a good system and people should be careful what alternatives they might wish for. The new government is looking imaginatively at how it can be improved in the future and all power to their elbow in that endeavour.

Until any more advanced concept is adopted, the new computer system will improve the PAYE situation in the next few years. It should be more accurate and it will deliver repayments quicker. It is a shame it was not introduced on time three years ago as planned

Extra-statutory concession A19

A19 has been subject to much misleading news coverage.