Cpcmcredit Blog

When initially considering self employment I was greatly inspired by the Businesslike events proposed and sponsored by Gordon Browns administration. I often believe if it wasn’t for a couple of excellent presentations, I might not have taken the course I did . I certainly have no regrets. Far from it

Businesslink had its faults for sure but the intent was clear. Labour under Brown and Blair, sent a clear message that they supported small enterprises

Setting up a business is daunting and perhaps the least enjoyable aspect is managing tax. After years of PAYE, filling out detailed returns can be quite a shock and not all the self employed are natural financially minded or adept at form filling.

The self assessment is not too difficult to complete and made a couple of brief calls in the past but my situation isn’t complicated. I would also state that the helpline was excellent so why has HMRC taken this step?

Quite incredible that they are shutting the helpline for a full six months of the year and expecting enquirers to reply on “chatbots” which are even more frustrating than call centres from a certain part of the world.

And for tax too. This isn’t about returning an unwanted parcel to Amazon (who actually do have excellent customer service) but about the largest financial transaction most people will make in any one year.

Whether the decisions was driven by HMG or just HMRC independently doesn’t perhaps matter but the supposed party of enterprise should perhaps consider the needs of those it claims to represent