Re: This nothing new by HMRC
I have had this twice.
The first time I was a PAYE employee with straightforward tax affairs. The demand was for a preposterous five-figure sum, payable immediately.
The chap I spoke to at HMRC was incredibly belligerent and simply said I owed them money (I didn't) because the computer said so and I should pay up, or else. He wasn't joking. I wasn't paying anything I didn't owe. I dug my heels in and said that if they could demonstrate how they had arrived at the figure and it was valid, I would gladly pay it, otherwise they could go whistle for it. They couldn't, it got ugly and protracted but eventually, after several unannounced home visits, which scared the daylights out of my wife, they conceded that I didn't owe anything at all. I never got any kind of apology from them and consider that what they were attempting was simply extortion.
The second time, the amount was a less scary but not insignificant 4-figure sum. I spoke to a very helpful lady at HMRC, who, after a few days of investigation admitted it was an error. Having been through this once before, I demanded and received a letter confirming same.
Having mentioned the above to numerous friends and colleagues, several of them received similar letters. Most paid up without question.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
