A few weeks ago I was double-checking some taxation figures for some learning resources we are currently writing. As the government decides what tax we pay, it seemed logical that the one place that you could count on being correct was HMRC’s own website. So off I went to www.hmrc.gov.uk and searched for income tax rates 2008/09
As is usual for the HMRC website, I was thrown up a lot of stuff which wasn’t suitable. However I eventually found the link I was looking for – tax tables for 2008/09.
They really managed to confuse me. I was looking at the tax tables thinking “I’m sure those figures aren’t right”. The personal allowance figure and the higher rate tax thresholds just didn’t seem correct. After checking my paperwork I found that they didn’t match my figures either. So of course I started to have a panic attack thinking that myself and my colleagues have been working hard writing lots of learning resources based on incorrect figures.
Not one to be put off, I then went to our recently delivered brand new CII study texts for 2008/09 to see what they had to say. I also went to the CII website and downloaded their new tax tables. Much to my confusion, the CII’s figures matched mine – and therefore they DIDN’T match what HMRC’s website was telling me.
Now I really was puzzled so I called up the CII. Some kind soul helpfully put me through to the publishing department. They assured me that the figures in their tax tables were correct. Phew! That means the figures we had been using were correct too. So why were our figures different from the government’s own website?
Thinking I must be going mad, I double-checked the HMRC website. But no, they definitely had the wrong figures. I then did a search on google and visited a few tax pages from various accountants. Some of them had 2008/09 figures that matched mine, others had figures that matched the HMRC website. I was beginning to wonder when I would wake up from this bizarre dream.
To cut a long story short, I did manage to work out what was going on and I also discovered that there are many others in this industry who experienced the same bewilderment and confusion as myself. The HMRC website still had the figures which WERE valid at the beginning of tax year 2008/09. However due to the government “almost U-turn” over the scrapping of the 10% tax band earlier in the tax year, the personal allowance and the higher rate tax threshold had been raised. So I WAS using correct figures. I was so relieved.
I do however find it shocking that HMRC had failed to update their own website to reflect correct figures (note that they have now updated them). Anybody studying for any CF exam knows how much legislation there is surrounding tax, social security benefits, national insurance etc etc. Surely as students we all should be able to depend upon the government’s own website for correct information. Apparently not.
It is just as shocking that accountant’s and other firms in the industry are not keeping their websites up-to-date. It makes you wonder how many people out there are working with incorrect figures. I hope there are no financial advisers falling into that category (but I bet there are!).
So please do make sure you have the correct f igures to study and revise with, and from now on we all need to bear in mind that you can’t trust what any old website (even that of HMRC) tells you. When it comes to studying for your CF exams, go with what the CII study text tells you! We will! The CII’s correct tax tables can be downloaded at
http://www.cii.co.uk/downloaddata/TaxTables_CF1-5_for_examinations_1Sept08_to_31Aug09.pdf
The moral of the story is – if in doubt, trust what the CII study text tells you! |
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