HMRC hounds expat for more than seven years - for money he never 借りがあるd them in the first place
- One Briton was sent 多重の 罰金s from HMRC for not とじ込み/提出するing a 税金 return
- But he was not 適格の to 支払う/賃金 税金 and had moved to New Zealand 十分な time?
An expat who retired to New Zealand 設立する there was no escaping a 目録 of 失敗s from HM 歳入 & Customs, which wrongly hounded him to とじ込み/提出する 税金 returns for more than seven years.
Michael Johnson, 77, left the UK to live in New Zealand in 2007 after a career in the 海軍 and the 科学(工学)技術 部門.
Johnson heard nothing from HMRC for 10 years, until he got a letter out of the blue in February 2017.
The letter was a £100 罰金 for not sending his 税金 return in both 2015/16 and 2016/17.
![The taxman cometh: HMRC could not be dissuaded from sending multiple fines and letters](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/07/15/13/87355215-13635897-image-a-2_1721047292246.jpg)
The taxman cometh: HMRC could not be dissuaded from sending 多重の 罰金s and letters?
Johnson was not 適格の to 支払う/賃金 any 税金 in the UK, so sent HMRC a copy of his New Zealand パスポート, 同様に as photocopies of the taxman's letters.
HMRC wrote 支援する to apologise, 確認するd he did not need to 支払う/賃金 any 税金, cancelled the £100 罰金 and paid £25 in 補償(金) to say sorry for the mistake and for Johnson's time trying to 直す/買収する,八百長をする the 問題/発行する.
The taxman said the mistake was 予定 to wrongly 記録,記録的な/記録するing that Johnson was self-雇うd, and said it had 解決するd the problem.
Johnson thought that was the end of the 事柄 - but a year later he received another HMRC letter 需要・要求するing he とじ込み/提出する a 税金 return, 同様に as another £100 罰金.
Once again, Johnson sent a 堅固に worded letter to HMRC, telling the taxman he was 'a New Zealand 国民 and ーするつもりである to die here' and therefore 借りがあるd no 税金.
HMRC apologised again, 説 it had made the same mistake as in 2017. The 税金 団体/死体 cancelled the 罰金 and paid him £35 in 補償(金).
Johnson said: 'I am now 77 and this stuff really 苦しめるs me. The letters, the wasted time, the copies and the 脅しs from HMRC. Why am I 存在 迫害するd?'
Another year went by, and yet again a n HMRC letter landed on Johnson's doormat.
This time the letter was not a 罰金, but a notice that the 税金 団体/死体 had changed his 税金 code.
Johnson 反対するd, and the taxman apologised again, 説 the error was 予定 to Johnson's 私的な 年金 provider changing his 詳細(に述べる)s with HMRC.?
In 返答, HMRC's computer system assumed the change meant Johnson was getting a larger 年金, which he wasn't.
Again, HMRC said sorry and paid another £25 in 補償(金).
A few years then went by, but in 2021 Johnson received another £100 罰金 from HMRC for 恐らく not とじ込み/提出するing a 税金 return.
The exasperated Johnson sent another letter to HMRC, which said sorry, paid him £35 and said: 'We have 明確に 公式文書,認めるd that you are 免除された from UK 税金 with 影響 from 6 April 2010.'
But Johnson got another HMRC letter in April 2024, 説 he 借りがあるd it £100 for not とじ込み/提出するing a 税金 return on time.
An exasperated Johnson had finally had enough, and 接触するd This is Money to try to get the problem finally 解決するd.
HMRC then apologised again, 申し込む/申し出d Johnson yet more 補償(金) and 約束d the 問題/発行する would not come up again.
An HMRC spokesperson said: 'We have apologised to Mr Johnson and 訂正するd his 記録,記録的な/記録する to make sure this doesn’t happen again.'
However, Johnson is not 確信して the 問題/発行する has finally been 解決するd.
He said: 'On a personal level, I feel little 信用/信任 that this will not reoccur. I have no 代案/選択肢 but to believe what they say.
'I believe that the people at HMRC have 意向s to sort it because errors waste their time, money and 成果/努力 but the computer system took 活動/戦闘s without human 介入 and is then 非難するd without any obvious 支配(する)/統制する.'
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