JIM at HMRC: thank you. I hope Jim has put an end to a bit of bureaucratic nonsense that HMRC really should stop. And save the nation some money.

OK, it’s entirely possible that some fault lies at my door, I agree. But talk about left hand not knowing what right hand is doing…I thought HMRC was supposed to be more joined up.

You see, apparently I owe HMRC a £400 fine for a company that ceased to exist in March 2009 (RIP Mortonmedia Ltd, one of my old companies that was no longer required).

Anyway, last week I received a fine notification. As I had also recently received a letter from HMRC requiring me to file accounts for my now non-existent company I pushed it towards my accountant, The Tax Partnership (TTP). Job done I thought.

Err, no. Not quite…

Yesterday I received a letter from HMRC telling me that The Tax Partnership was not authorised to act on my behalf. What? How else did they think my company had been making tax returns for the last six years?

So, this letter, having taken up the time of one small business (Business Car Manager), the time of another small business (The Tax Partnership) plus HMRC’s, and associated paper and postage costs, I thought it time to put on my best Chancellor Osborne hat and save the nation some money. Time to be tough but fair and sort this one out (anyway, I knew TTP was away for a long weekend’s break so I had to be grown up about this and do it myself).

I phoned the HMRC. And Jim, I hope, has fixed it.

Jim explained to me, with some patience, that although it was true the company was no longer trading we had forgotten to close down the PAYE scheme. It just needed a letter to say so. Doh!

I asked Jim to dictate what I should say. Jim obliged. Letter written and dispatched. And I trust the end of this. Thank you Jim for fixing it for me.

I hope.

We’re all for making tax tax simpler for small businesses at Business Car Manager. That’s why we’re actually partners with HMRC to help achieve that, hence you’ll see that big green graphic on our Law & Tax landing page with access to tax and VAT guides. And the HMRC’s Time To Pay scheme has clearly been a lifeline to many SMEs through this period of economic hardship.

But when every penny counts to fill that huge national deficit created by the previous government’s lack of financial nous, as well as the reckless banking gamblers, it just seems to me hugely inefficient and wasteful that all that time, money and effort has been expended on something entirely unnecessary. Chasing a non-existent company.

A more positive move for HMRC might be to have a checking system. If a company closes its accounts and asks to be removed from Companies House, is there not an internal computer program that ties up such loose ends as PAYE schemes? A letter telling me I had not done so and confirming that it should be done is a far more positive and helpful way of approaching it.

In the car industry, it’s all about saving money by being more efficient. If a car is more efficient, it saves fuel, which saves costs and saves tax.

HMRC should take note. A bit more efficiency would save wasted energy, save on admin costs, and ultimately save on tax – which can be used to fill up the nation’s gaping black financial hole.

And perhaps all of us should take note of Stephen Baynard’s advice from the HMRC at the first Small Business Partners Conference I attended earlier this year: “Without good records, you can’t run a good business.”

Business Car Manager Editor’s Blog on HMRC and wastefulness