Is HMRC really concerned about the welfare of the taxpayer? Nick Davies does some digging through HMRC’s own resources…
Readers may recall my article on behalf of the Contentious Tax Group last year (HMRC EIP, August/September 2023) in which I highlighted what we considered to be the continuing scandal of high levels of suicide among vulnerable taxpayers who are subjected to the most serious and protracted HMRC investigations.
At that stage the evidence that we held was largely anecdotal, and I reported that we had recently been frustrated by the response from HMRC to our Freedom of Information request regarding the duration of criminal and COP9 investigations. Our request was rebutted because, although confirming to us that they held the information requested, it would be too time consuming (and therefore too costly) for them to collate and provide it.
Further FOI requests are currently in hand.
Despite this, and channelling the spirit, energy and persistence of Alan Bates, we are undeterred in our resolve to force and facilitate a proper public debate into the issue, and I thought it appropriate to update readers on what has been happening over the past few months.
The first point to make is that our evidence around the number of suicides remains largely anecdotal, but our efforts are continuing to identify meaningful figures. Having said that, the anecdotal evidence is becoming compelling, and here I will set out a couple of very recent examples.
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