If like us you’ve seen HMRC’s latest press release about their latest interrogation of their figures you could be left wondering whether it’s really wise of them to wade into the gender politics debate
HMRC says that their analysis shows that “men win the battle of the taxes as they are more likely than women to complete their tax return on time.”
The figures are marginal but HMRC clearly feel they are worth highlighting as they apparently show that with “294 of every 10,000 tax returns completed late men have managed to topple women off the top spot. Beaten by just 9 tax returns per 10,000, women submitted 303 late tax returns for every 10,000 in 2013‑14 tax year.”
HMRC goes on to say: “It seems that it’s not only gender that impacts on whether you might miss the 31 January deadline but also age. Only 118 of every 10,000 tax returns received late, came from those aged 65 and over, making them top of the class. Those with room for improvement are the 18-20 year olds with a huge 949 for every 10,000 overdue.
“There’s even competition within different industries to complete tax return on time. The agriculture, fishing and forestry industry are once again in the lead, with just 71 in every 10,000 returns submitted late. Lawyers and accountants came second (147 late returns per 10,000), with financial, insurance and real estate sector’s 212 late submissions per 10,000, moving them from fifth place to third. Those working in the administrative and support services slipped into bottom place (359 per 10,000), with information and communication industries not far behind (330 per 10,000) and education the next worst performing sector (292 per 10,000).
Taxpayers in London were the worst performers in England, completing 402 late returns for every 10.000. Meanwhile, the South West sent in 236 late returns for every 10.000 making them the English region least likely to miss the January 31 deadline.”
Now all this is harmless enough use of figures as a means to generate interest in the media and publicise the rapidly approaching deadline for Self Assessment returns but having an office full of ‘numbers’ people it’s generated some debate here, particularly when you look beyond the numbers.
For instance those 9 women who filed late and underpin HMRC’s analysis; what do they know about them and the reason for the late filing? There may have been good reason, it’s not stated whether any received a penalty or whether they appealed and won against any such decision. Were there personal circumstances which came into play that tend to apply to women more than men? Were they pregnant or indeed balancing work with child care responsibilities or maybe they were busy filing returns for other people first. Maybe they fall into the category of working in the education sector and are under 21.
The big question really is how relevant is all this data in terms of understanding how people prioritise meeting the requirements of a government body which is not always viewed as being efficient and effective? What’s HMRC’s plan to address the serious underlying implications of their analysis beyond producing infographics that the media, both traditional and online, will lap up and send viral?
Ultimately such analysis is open to interpretation and debate as are the solutions to ensuring tax owed is paid on time. HMRC, or rather their PR team, can take comfort in knowing that they have been successful in generating awareness of the need to file tax returns on time. Oh and perhaps unsurprisingly for a tax consultancy business all our team, female and male members alike, have all ensured that they’re meeting that all important deadline.
