Debits left, Credits right - City High Accounting Rap

This seems to be another version of a video I posted here a couple of years back. This one is credited to City High accounting class from 2011-2012.

Five banker related acronyms for the 21st century

DEBITs - Desperate Executives Broken by Insider Trading

NERO - Naughty Executives' Regulatory Organisation

NABRO - Not Another Bloody Regulatory Organisation

MUMPIES - Middle-aged Upwardly Mobile Professionals

OPULANT - OverPaid UnderutiLised And Not Trying

BERNIEs - Banker Earning Ridiculous Notes In Eternity

The liar, the Revenue and the wardrobe

A little late to the party on this one, but worth recording for posterity. And yes, the title is a variation on the same theme adopted in most other reports of this story.

A bookkeeper, keen to avoid arrest in connection with a £140,000 VAT fraud, hid in her bedroom wardrobe.  Unsurprisingly, after looking under her bed, the wardrobe was the next place that police officers looked.

The accused, Donna Magee (44), was arrested by HMRC in February 2012. Concerns had been raised by reference to fraudulent VAT repayments for the construction of non-existent new business premises.  She has since been tried, found guilty and sentenced.

Mike Parkinson, of HMRC, explained that the investigation shows that tax fraudsters have "no place to hide".  That is certainly true for those who attempt to hide in their own bedrooms!

A '50 shades of tax' pun

"I use gaffer tape to stick down the envelope for my tax return... 

 Cos its Tax duct tapeable. DUCT TAPEABLE"

With all due credit to Arnie Haybridge who posted this on twitter

The importance of getting your tax return right

HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs) has returned a Tax Return to a man in STANSTED after he apparently answered one of the questions incorrectly.

In response to the question: "Do you have anyone dependant on you?" he wrote:

2.1 million illegal immigrants, 1.1 million crackheads, 4.4 million unemployable Jeremy Kyle scroungers, 900,000 criminals in over 85 prisons plus 650 idiots in Parliament and the whole of the European Commission.

HMRC stated that the response he gave was unacceptable.

The man's response back to HMRC was simple:

SORRY - Who did I miss out?

Many thanks to Brian Cruickshank for highlighting this for me. 

Hugh's new client

The following story comes from long-time subscriber to my newsletters and blog posts, Hugh Dunlop.

Hugh is a practicing accountant who is close to retirement in Scotland. He tells of a self employed person who came to him a couple of years ago to file the SA100 tax return.

As it was the first year of the business and he had previously been employed under PAYE I was able to get him a tidy tax rebate. 

In 2014 I told him that he had made a profit just under the personal allowance and as a result he would have no tax to pay. The reply was 'Does that mean I won't get a tax rebate again?' I said that as he had not paid any tax he could not get one. 'OH. Does that mean I won't have to pay you?'

Some clients just don't get it do they?

What's the difference between counting and accounting?