There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure. Colin Powell

It’s ten years now since the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise merged to form HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and let’s face it, it hasn’t been a smooth ride for them.

Since their ‘reign’ they’ve definitely had a bumpy ride and unfortunately for them this has hogged the spotlight and continues to do so. For example: there was the £1 billion in tax credits overpayments, almost 35 million individuals and families were at risk when discs holding personal information went missing, wrong tax codes being sent out when they updated their systems and they are often criticised for the way they engage with the public and more recently they have been accused of not doing enough to crack down on tax avoidance. But has it been all doom and gloom for them?

Well the publicity isn’t generally good but they did bring something to the table; Real Time Information (RTI) which is the biggest change to the way employers report their employee payroll information and is done in real-time, which means submissions are more frequent and more efficient – but like all their changes there are penalties if you don’t adhere to the new rules.

As a society we always focus on the negatives as they are more transparent and generally creates more noise and although HMRC haven’t been well received they are here to stay. They have a lot to prove and it will take a miracle to get the public on their side so let’s see what the next 10 years hold and who knows, their next decade could be a glorious one.

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