Stunned by record tax demand – Financial Advice Planning

A Bristol man was stunned to receive a tax demand from HMRC after his tax code was changed – for £14 TRILLION (Financial Advice Planning).

The taxman wanted him to pay £14,301,369,864,489.03 – a sum equivalent to twice the UK’s GDP and enough to buy 777 new Hinkley Point-style nuclear reactors. He worked out that it would take him 369 million years to pay the bill from his salary and said that when he called its helpline HMRC told it him ‘it looks as if someone has fallen asleep on the keyboard.’

HMRC loses half its penalty cases

HMRC loses over half the cases where it demands penalties from taxpayers, says the Telegraph.  51% of penalties, and 65% of VAT penalties, were cancelled last year. But only 31% of tax appeals over amounts of tax due were decided in favour of claimants, while when it comes to tax tribunal cases – where people can take their cases if they are not satisfied with HMRC’s judgement – taxpayers won only 18% of these last year.

Parents get holiday fine cancelled

A couple from Manchester succeeded in getting a £240 fine for taking their sons out of school for a holiday cancelled, says the Telegraph. The couple’s holiday started just a few days before term ended, and they claimed it had educational value because it took in museum trips and involved the boys in speaking Spanish. The mother urged other parents to challenge fines if they were being sensible with their holiday plans and their children had good attendance records, as theirs did.