HMRC’s Stephen Banyard: says HMRC genuine in its attempts to help small businesses manage their tax more efficiently – and promote best business practice

Business Car Manager: Editor’s Blog

I ALWAYS thought a good set of records was a good sign when buying a used car: you know, stamped log book, service receipts, expired MOTs and so on.

And so, it seems, it’s the same thing with good businesses.

Yesterday I was at HMRC HQ. Yes, the dreaded ogre, the taxman himself – I stepped into the very jaws of the building in Parliament Street, London.

Actually it wasn’t that intimidating. I was there as part of the HMRC’s first ‘Supporting Small Businesses Partner’ conference. You see, Business Car Manager is an official HMRC partner. Scary thought, I know.

However, HMRC is keen to get its message across in a more positive, constructive manner than table thumping and fine warnings. As Dave Hartnett, the rather scarily titled Permanent Secretary for Tax, told us: “HMRC can terrify; our partners less so, especially when it comes to SMEs.”

So HMRC has decided to try and make tax easier to understand, help small businesses through difficult trading periods and attempt to get this friendlier message across by using partners – magazines, websites and so on that readers rate and trust. Which is where we come in.

It’s certainly something HMRC needs to do. A recent Federation of Small Businesses survey discovered the 75% of small businesses believe they would be able to grow if the UK tax system was simplified. No wonder the FSB found that most businesses did not feel confident dealing with tax issues – 66% used professional help. I count myself among those.

I tackled Stephen Banyard, director of HMRC’s Business Customer Unit, on HMRC’s new approach, particularly over its new push on keeping good records – see our news story Better record keeping saves businesses money.

“Without good records, you can’t run a good business,” Stephen told me, adding that errors and incorrect paperwork cost the Treasury