The accounting sheepdog

A farmer sends his accounting sheepdog, Spot, off to gather in his 8 sheep. On returning the farmer is astonished to find he now has 10 animals in his pen and asks the dog to explain.

"You asked me to round them up", barks Spot.

Accounting swear words

The auditing rash

"Doctor, Doctor. Every time I go on an audit I get covered in rashes. What could it be?"


- "Ticks."

An entertaining former Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue

Sir Nick Montagu was the after dinner speaker at Digita's annual conference last night. He shared some wonderful anecdotes from his days as Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue (1997-2004).

I bumped into him earlier in the evening and we shared a brief recollection of one of our conversations from my time as Chairman of the ICAEW Tax Faculty (which overlapped with his time at the Revenue). For reasons which will become apparent in a moment I as concerned as to how he would cope when the time came to present his talk.

In the event this is how he started (and he was deadly serious by the way):

" You will have heard plenty of speakers before; some with talent, some without. But never before one without a voice - laryngitis hit me this morning, hence the croak"

He bravely struggled on and entertained the audience despite being only able to do little more than whisper. Fortunately the amplification meant that all could hear him.

Another of his more self-deprecating remarks was that "If you need a cheap clown, look no further than a former Chairman of the Inland Revenue".

He told a number of stories which are probably best not recorded here for posterity. Among those that are safe to share include:

One aggrieved taxpayer, after making a substantial back payment of tax enrolled Nick in a nudist colony - presumably, in the taxpayer's mind as retribution for the Revenue taking the shirt off his back.

We also learned that some sad person had determined that an anagram of "Sir Nicholas Montagu, Chairman of the Inland Revenue" is "He'll receive a mountain of cash, nothing remains". I have resisted the temptation to check it really works!

How many accountants does it take to change a light bulb?

How many accountants does it take to change a light bulb?




How many would you like it to be?

How many accountants does it take to change a light bulb?




What kind of answer did you have in mind?

How many accountants does it take to change a light bulb?



Hmmm....let me run a few numbers and get back to you....

How many accountants does it take to change a light bulb?



Two. One to change it and one to make sure it was done within budget

And lastly, my favourite:

How many accountants does it take to change a light bulb?



One, but he'll have 1500 of them to do on 31st January.

(This response was suggested by Adrian Higgs)

Taxpayer received 90 incorrect demands for £100 penalty

Pity poor Trevor Bell. HMRC sent him 90 letters, each charging £100 penalty.

Trevor, who owns Trevor Bell Construction Limited, recently changed the name of his business and had notified HMRC of the changes.

But each letter stated that 31-year-old was in arrears with the company and that he had to pay the tax for the sub contractors he employed.

As soon as Trevor alerted HMRC, they admitted the mistake and they said they would put it right.

Three days later Trevor received the apology, those of us who are familiar with the dealings of HMRC, might have both feared and expected.

He received a further 90 letters, all stating that he owed nothing!

When clients don't want to pay in full...

Satire: Angry taxpayers demand tutorial from Lord Ashcroft

The Daily Mash published a wonderful satirical article yesterday. Here are some highlights:

VOTERS across Britain have expressed outrage at Lord Ashcroft's ability to avoid more tax than them.

The billionaire Tory donor has used his non-domiciled status to lower his tax bill by an estimated £127 million leading to demands he conduct a mass tutorial at Wembley Stadium using short, simple words and an easy-to-follow Powerpoint presentation.

Julian Cook, an economist at Madeley-Finnegan, said: "Lord Ashcroft is one of around 60 million people in Britain who want to pay less tax.

"He does this by hiring an accountant who reduces his tax bill by as much as is legally possible, sends him an invoice and then everyone goes about their day. As you can see it's all incredibly evil."

Labour has seized on the revelations, insisting Lord Ashcroft's ability to make vast amounts of money and hang on to as much of it as he possibly can shows the Tories cannot be trusted with the nation's finances.

A spokesman said: "By failing to persuade the Telegraph and the Mail to go on and on and on about all the non-domiciled Labour donors who have done exactly the same thing, David Cameron has shown an appalling lack of judgement."

Meanwhile Nathan Muir, a Guardian reading Labour voter from Highate, insisted: "If I was a multi-millionaire I would pay all my tax at the full rate because I want to help build a fair and equal society where every child has a chance to be all they can be."

The Daily Mash is a satirical website covering national and international news with spoof stories, commentary and opinion. NB: "The website contains dirty words and occasional references to humping"

The dancing accountant

Worth watching right to the end, even beyond the post dance interaction between the accountant and the judges.

Tony Hancock - The income tax demand

Here's a link to a sound file of the half hour radio episode first aired over fifty years ago on 4 November 1956.

Tony Hancock receives a tax demand for £14 12s 3d re ten years' back tax. He refuses to pay as that represents 50% of his income over the period! (Even fifty years ago this would have been a tiny amount!) so he goes to see the Inspector - played by Kenneth Williams.

The inspector tells Hancock that he can't just pay the outstanding tax, they have to haggle a bit. He also says that most people ignore his letters. Once they've been ignored twice he ignores the taxpayers! He also recommends that Hancock should go to see a Chartered Accountant "you'll probably get away with it then!". Hancock takes his advice but the accountant turns out to be a crooked Sid James and mayhem ensues.