Summer 2009 Newsletter Content Pot and kettle No more stealth Pensions hit A place in the sun Ready or not... Nice motor Making allowances Good times, bad times Tax-free checkup Three square meals Funny question Dividend rules OK? Too good to be true? Pay my friend Early EIS Mind the halfpennies Just the ticket Flat rate changes Foreign Service This year, next year Partial exemption Penalties Compliance checks Under their eye Howzat? Know your rights Discipline Don't be mean Redundancy Two sorts of absence Warranties

Know your rights HMR&C are supposed to introduce a new Charter later this year setting out the "customer's" rights. Sadly, "the customer is always right" is not one of their principles, and we are not permitted to take our custom to a competitor who might give us a better service - unless we emigrate to a tax haven. The latest published proposals include some fine sentiments. They say you can expect HMRC to: Treat you as honest, believing you are willing to pay what you owe, claiming only what you are entitled to, unless we have good reason to doubt you. Respect you, listening to your needs and taking into account your circumstances. Provide you with accurate information, making it easy for those who try to get things right. Protect the information that we hold about you. The loss of those famous CDs with the details of taxpayers' data springs to mind immediately on reading the third of these promises. Many people will grind their teeth at the other two as well. Still, that was the past, this is the future: maybe they will really live up to these standards in the future. We can all live in hope, and we can all prepare to hold them to their Charter once it is brought into effect - that's supposed to be no later than 31 December 2009.