HMRC writing to 'terminally ill' people and threatening 'debt collectors'

HMRC is threatening a terminally ill father with debt collectors. A Guardian newspaper reader has written into the newspaper to explain "he is 92 and doesn’t actually owe the money, but there is nothing he can do to stop the tax demands coming".

JP wrote: "HMRC has threatened my terminally ill 92-year-old father with debt collectors over an erroneous tax bill, 38 times what he actually owed. The problem began when, due to visual impairment, he entered the tax paid on his pension in the wrong box on his 2022-23 tax return.

"He is required to submit a return each year due to a small pension he received from five years working in Spain. An HMRC agent confirmed over the phone that the tax due is, in fact, £126 and he duly paid on time. However, he received no written confirmation and, since November, all further attempts to communicate with HMRC to correct the error have been ignored, resulting in him becoming locked into a series of auto-generated letters asking him to pay over £4,800 and warning it is accumulating interest.

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"This has caused huge distress." In reply, the government tax department said: "We’re writing to the customer to apologise profusely, and confirm that the debt on his record has been cancelled. We are sending him a redress payment for the distress caused.”

You usually have 30 days from the date your penalty was issued to appeal. If you miss this deadline you must explain the reason for the delay so that HMRC can decide if they’ll consider your appeal. If HMRC do not change the decision and you still disagree, you’ll be offered a review.

You can appeal to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) against a penalty, for example for an inaccurate return, sending in your tax return late, paying tax late and failing to keep adequate records.