In Sept 2004 I discovered i had,not paid tax for the past 5 years,1999/2004, during this period i was self/employed,i got the bulk of my work from two Property Management Co,who paid me weekly/monthly,each cheque had wages/salary written on it,i rather stupidly thought that my tax was being paid at source,Then in Sept 2004,I discovered my tax had not been paid,
I went to my local tax office,explained to them what had happened,they then gave me 5 tax returns to fill in, I got an accountant gave him a mandate,allowing all correspondance to go to him as well as me,
In November 2004 i got a demand from HM tax for £22,000,for the past 5 years,To say I c*****d is an understatement,
I phoned HM Tax and spoke to a Mrs Young,she informed be that i had 7 days to pay,and failure to pay would mean i would incur penalties of £60 per day for each non returned tax year,meaning £300 aday would be levied against me,
I told her that had "i been of a nervous disposition and had higher celings in my house" I,d be hanging from them,by now,"she said "don,t be so dramatic Mr Omelasz" and then proceeded to read me the riot act,so to speak,I hung up,
Next day I went to see my accountant,who told me,"Don,t worry about it,"over the next 6 months with letters toing and froing between my accountant and HM tax,we were now into June 2005, we were going on holiday to Germany for one month,when a letter came from HM tax,It was a final demand for £2367.59 tax for the last 5 years,not the £22,000,
I went to see my accountant,and asked him "will i pay this"he said No,and that he was still fighting my corner,and that i should go on holiday,and enjoy myself,We returned on the19th July,and there was a brown envelope from the Taxman wai ting for me,With much trepidation i opened it,It was a full and final demand,for £722.07 + 8% interest from the 16th June 2005,this being the full amount for the years 1999/2004, I rushed down to my accountant, and said,"do i pay this"he said yes,I went to the tax office ,paid the £722.07+ 8% interest from June,I got a receipt which said that my tax bill was clear and come next April 2006 I would start from scratch,In 2006 i filled in a return and in June 2006 i got a rebate of £278,
Had i been stupid enough at the start,i could have ended up paying thousands I just wonder how many other people get hit with these ludicrous amounts when in actul fact the true sum is a lot less
Wullie