Daily Mail - 21.08.2019

Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 21, 2019 Page 47

Call off cruel tax grab

FEW things strike fear into

our hearts more than an

unexpected letter from

the taxman.

For most, it will be a bill for a few

hundred pounds that will be

collected via our tax code in the

following year.

Irritating. Enough to ruin your

day even — but not devastating.

Now imagine opening a letter

claiming you owe tens of

thousands of pounds because

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)

has decided to hike its income tax

rates and apply the new charges

retrospectively. You would think

the taxman had lost the plot.

Yet as we report on Pages 44 and

45, this is the reality for thousands

of self-employed people who used

so-called loan schemes.

This is where workers were paid

using tax-free loans from offshore

trusts that typically they did not

need to pay back. And as it was a

loan, it meant they did not have to

pay income tax or National Insur-

ance contributions. It sounds

strange but this was legal for

stamp duty instead of buyers.

Two days later he denied ever

suggesting such an idea.

This kind of whisper can stall the

property market for months as

buyers and sellers wait to see what

happens — so in future Mr Javid

may want to stamp out any

unsubstantiated rumours a little

more swiftly.

Stop this bullying

SMART meter gripes have domi-

nated our postbag this week.

As we reveal on Pages 36 and 37,

you are furious about being denied

the cheapest deals just because

you do not want a smart meter.

These new gadgets are not a

legal requirement — and you are

well within your rights to say no.

Until now, just a handful of tariffs

have required customers to agree

to installing one.

But as the 2020 deadline for

offering all households a smart

meter looms, it’s clear firms now

think the easiest way to avoid

fines for failing to do enough to

promote the meters is to threaten

loyal customers with bill hikes if

they refuse. Ofgem needs to

recognise this behaviour as

bullying and stop condoning it.

Take power

THANk you for all your emails in

response to Money Mail writer

Samantha Partington’s moving

account of why you must not delay

setting up power of attorney.

One reader says: ‘I am in the

middle of a similar nightmare.

‘My husband was diagnosed with

a brain tumour and can no longer

communicate effectively.

‘We had separate bank accounts

so now, while still coming to terms

with his diagnosis and caring for

him, I must also apply to the

courts to access his finances.

‘Please encourage readers to take

this seriously. Death isn’t some-

thing we want to consider but this

is about what happens while you

are still alive, be it dementia, a

stroke, accident or a brain tumour.

Power of attorney must be adver-

tised as much as wills.’

[email protected]

years. Now, however, HMRC has

decided it is wrong to disguise

income as a loan.

And that would be fine if the

taxman only wanted to change

the rules going forward.

But for HMRC, the opportunity

to rake in an extra £3.2 billion

in backdated tax is just too

tempting and so it has applied the

new rules retrospectively.

It means that all those people

who were assured they were act-

ing legally now face losing their

homes and businesses — and in

some cases even their lives.

For in England alone, nearly half

a million people with problem

debts consider suicide annually —

more than 100,000 actually try it.

There have already been worrying

reports of people killing them-

selves because of these tax bills.

It is just incomprehensible that

HMRC is allowed to change the

law for years past.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson

needs to launch an immediate

inquiry and right this wrong.

Careless whisper

CHANCEllOR Sajid Javid needs

to be a little more cautious when

it comes to his announcements.

On Saturday he was supposedly

considering a change to house-

buying rules so that sellers pay

THE LAST

WORD

By Victoria Bischoff

MONEY MAIL EDITOR

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MoneyMail 47