Readers of this blog may recall an earlier entry from me relating to penalties imposed by HM Revenue & Customs (see blog ‘Taxman gets tougher’).  The background was that a self-employed individual without an accountant calculated that he had overpaid £3,000 in tax for the year ending 5 April 2009 and made a repayment claim.  After review, HMRC calculated that the refund due was actually only £1,000.  They then issued a penalty notice to the individual charging him 70% of the difference, a penalty of £1,400!

It is pleasing to report a happy ending.  A law firm stepped in and represented the man for free and after they became involved, HMRC cancelled the fine, repaid the £1,000 and even added £100 as a “goodwill gesture” because of what it called “irregularities” in the man’s case. I do wonder what impact all the bad publicity had on HMRC’s decision.

I also wonder whether the outcome would have been the same had the man remained without legal help. Somehow I doubt it.

It seems unlikely that the Taxman will be so generous in all cases, which does show the need for good advice at the proper time.

If any reader has any worries about tax matters of any kind, do feel free to get in touch.