An article in Accountancy Age highlights something that's come up quite often with our clients of late - letters from HMRC chasing (often non-existent) debts in increasingly aggressive terms:
"The letters inform businesses that their "outstanding tax debts" have been transferred to the HMRC's Distraint Department "to list your goods so that they may be sold at a public auction". The businesses are advised to call a telephone line or pay the full outstanding amount immediately."
The fact that the letters are often chasing non-existent debts is, technically, often the fault of the taxpayer - generally it's because they've failed to notify HMRC that no PAYE is due for a month or quarter, which you can easily do online here, as we do for dozens of employers - but even so, it's the aggressive tone that's surprising and inappropriate. HMRC work for us, not the other way round, and although some taxpayers will undoubtedly need firm treatment at times, beginning the dialogue with a threat of the seizing and auctioning of office contents seems to be a bit extreme for an opening gambit.
If you do get one of these letters, don't panic - many or most are chasing "debts" of £0.00.
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