As much as the taxman would like be seen by the public as a totally charitable, benevolent and optimistic insignia of officialdom, we explore some of the darker sides of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, and reveal their unseen iron fiscal fist.
Nothing gets those brutes in suits more riled up than an old fashioned dose of tax avoidance. When Amazon began selling t-shirts that read ‘Keep Calm and Avoid Paying Tax’, the nation was poised for the inevitable headlines reporting how George Osborne had gone postal. *Alas this never happened, Amazon quickly and quietly took the t-shirts down*
Innocents were targeted amongst the ‘sort of’ guilty, and minor fines and penalties were dressed up to appear like life-sentence bearing grudges.
With threats being dished out left right and centre, words such as ‘tax return’ and ‘IR35’ were more feared that fire and death.
“We could visit your home to view your possessions and arrange for them to be sold at public auction”
“Our Specialist Investigations Unit will be carrying out a full investigation into this scheme and they will open an enquiry into your tax affairs.”
These quotes are just a taster of the oppressive messages good old Hector shoved into his enquiry letters last year, and with a clampdown on tax avoidance on the rise, I dread to think of the obscenities and vulgarities that will be included in letters to come.
So who has seen HMRC when they are angry? To share any horror stories of the revenue and their agitated antics, please leave a comment in box below, or begin a discussion in our new forum.
We have certainly received letters with similar threats from HMRC. The really bizarre thing was that usually the document that they were chasing wasn’t actually overdue at the time.
Oh well you know HMRC, always two steps ahead when they may be owed money. If only they were so astonishingly instinctive when it is the other way round.
Makes their mob-like nature all the more obvious for all to see. Parasitical scum.
yes I am reapeatedly receiving nasty threatening, intimidating letters from them for a VAT payment paid long ago on time. I repeatedly write to them as its impossible to phone them and I always send them copies of bank statement and print outs from VAT online and comment on the nasty tone of their letters! The only response so far has been another demand for payment of VAT already paid and the bailiff threat!