Friday 14 March 2008

The Taxman Cometh

The Taxman ComethThose of you who missed the Monday night screening of Tonight on ITV, where the incompetence of HMRC was exposed in all its "glory", can catch it again here:

Tonight

One of the cases covered on the programme concerns Matt Matharu, a former cab driver from Kent, who was bankrupted by HMRC because HMRC refused to believe he had paid his taxes.

His problems started after he changed careers in 2000, to become a graphic designer.

Tax was deducted automatically from his salary, but although he told HMRC he was no longer self-employed, last year it sent him a bill for £12,000 based on his previous tax records.

Her Majesty's Revenue &Customs took him to court and, last August, he was officially made bankrupt. A month later HMRC finally admitted that it had made a mistake.

Mr Matharu was then given a revised tax bill.

Can you guess how mauch that was for?

88 pence!

The bankruptcy was overturned last month, but HMRC is still demanding £45 interest on the 88p, and over £2,000 in costs.

Well done lads!

Tax does have to be taxing.

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com) is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

2 comments:

  1. I do think you're being a tad unfair here HMRC issues on average 30 million tax codes in a year and the current official error rate is 6.66% giving 93.33% correct codes issued is easy hammering us for when something goes wrong but when we do things correctly what do we hear...........thats right nothing.You should be cocentrating on what was also mentioned in the programme but skipped over of the unobtaiable targets the staff have to work to as the staff losses get higher,the lack of training due to budget cuts,and the madcap ideas that flow from no 10 and 11 Downing Street they are the real bad guys in this mess..Not the staff who are still stuggling to provide a service to the public

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  2. Balrog

    re "staff losses get higher,the lack of training due to budget cuts,and the madcap ideas that flow from no 10 and 11 Downing Street" etc

    Read the other articles on this site, you will see that these issues are covered at various times.

    Also, the fact that those issues are covered in the programme mean that if people click through and watch it, they will see them.

    I would also note that if you read the sdide bar, you will see that this site is:

    "dedicated to the taxpayers of Britain, and the employees of the HMRC, who have to endure the monumental shambles that is Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

    This site is a living monument to the incompetence and arrogance of Gordon Brown, who set HMRC up."

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