BN66 - Write to your MP

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Just curious to see how many people affected by the retrospective legislation have written to their MPs.

If you haven't already done so, then you can email your MP using the following link. You don't need even need to know their name, just enter your postcode.

http://www.writetothem.com/

You will find some sample letters in these posts, although don't copy them word for word otherwise they may get rejected.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/622437-post1750.html
http://forums.contractoruk.com/623100-post1749.html
http://forums.contractoruk.com/637255-post338.html

If you can come up with a better/alternative letter, why not add it to this thread to encourage more people to write in.

Writing to your MP only take a few minutes, so even if you think it's a waste of time, what will it have cost you?

[Emigre]

Useful thread DR

I wrote back in July and got a very weak response (Tory). Will be writing again. I like the specific question regarding request for support.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Useful thread DR

I wrote back in July and got a very weak response (Tory). Will be writing again. I like the specific question regarding request for support.

I think it's also important to stress how this will affect you and your family personally. If it will lead to insolvency, repossession, then say so. They need to understand that this apparently "obscure" bit of legislation will lead to real hardship in many cases.

I suspect the vast majority of MPs will be unaware that this affects ordinary families, as the government introduced it under the guise of attacking "fat cat" property developers.

[poppy01]

I have just written to my mp (lib dem) again, requesting his support and asking him to make his opposition known to the chancellor

[StellaFan]

My MP replied but she really only asked how it would affect me. I thought my original letter was pretty much self-explanatory!

EDIT: Just spotted DR's post in the other thread. Will reword that as a response seeing as it is a bit more specific than my original

[deckster]

Well, just winged a letter off to my (Conservative) MP having received a partial closure notice this morning. Even worse than I was expecting, and as I have been with Montpelier for six years I was expecting it to be pretty bad. Six figures and the first one isn't a '1' either...if we lose then I will lose basically everything I have worked for my entire life and there is a good chance I will become bankrupt. Nice one Gordon.

In case anyone wants to plagiarise - here's what I sent:

I am writing to tell you about the situation that I, and several others thousand like me, find myself as a direct result of the current government railroading through parliament a pernicious and potentially unlawful retrospective change to the tax laws in this year's budget.

I am an independent IT specialist and in 2002 I entered into a tax planning arrangement which was approved by leading Tax Counsel as an entirely legal and effective way to organise my affairs.

Annually since then, I have received letters from HMRC stating that they were opening an enquiry into my tax returns. Further to these enquiry notices, they informed me that they would challenge the arrangement through litigation. This situation continued for six years, and ultimately no litigation was ever entered into.

Instead, the budget this year introduced a seemingly minor amendment in Budget Note 66; this inserted new clauses into tax law going back to 1987 and more importantly made these changes retrospective. The notes of the ensuing Finance Committee debates show that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were fiercely opposed to the retrospective nature of this change and were of the opinion that the legislation should stand by itself. The matter proceeded to a vote and Labour used their majority to force the new clauses to stand. Subsequent to this, HMRC have written to me demanding full payment of taxes plus interest that they deem to be due for every year the arrangement was used.

I am advised to appeal against the HMRC closure notice as a Judicial Review has been applied for on the grounds that retrospective tax legislation is an infringement of my human rights.

I am a law-abiding citizen and the sole provider for my young family, and I would never enter into an arrangement such as this if I thought it was contrary to existing laws. By changing legislation retrospectively and refusing to litigate using the law as it stood when the arrangement was set up, the government has effectively admitted that the scheme was indeed perfectly legitimate.

At no time have I ever sought to hide any income from HRMC - I am no tax evader, and neither am I a 'fat cat' who can easily afford the large sums of money that are now being demanded. If the legislation is fully enforced as it now stands, I will at the very minimum lose my house and will in all probability be forced into insolvency. I can only begin to imagine the effect this would have on my family and as you may expect I personally am suffering considerable anxiety and stress over the possible consequences.

As my member of parliament, I hope I can count on your support on this issue. I am unfamiliar with the inner workings of parliament and the judiciary, and I don’t know if you can help in this matter or support any review - but I felt you should be made aware of what is happening to decent law abiding people like me.

[ContractIn]

I wrote to mine on 4th September and have still yet to get a reply. Has anyone recieved response later than this?

[deckster]

Sounds very poor - I thought MPs had a constitutional obligation to reply to all communication?

Certainly mine got back to me with a very positive reply within 24 hours

[SantaClaus]

OK, I've sent a letter to my Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn (see below).Thanks to Deckster for his letter. I have copied some of it . Please feel free to take ideas from my letter too.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr Corbyn

I have written to you on many occasions and I am always grateful for your prompt replies.

On this occasion, I am writing to inform you of a situation that I and thousands of others face as a direct result of the government forcing through unlawful retrospective changes to the tax laws in this year's budget.

I am an independent IT consultant and in 2003 I entered into a tax planning arrangement which was approved by leading Tax Counsel as an entirely legal and effective way to organise my affairs.

Annually since then, I have received letters from HMRC stating that they were opening an enquiry into my tax returns. Further to these enquiry notices, they informed me that they would challenge the arrangement through litigation. This situation continued for 5 years, and ultimately no litigation was ever entered into. I am certain this was because HMRC knew they did not have a case under current tax laws.

Then, in the budget this year, the govt. introduced a seemingly minor amendment in Budget Note 66; this inserted new clauses into tax law going back to 1987 and more importantly made these changes retrospective, something that has never been done before. The notes of the ensuing Finance Committee debates show that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were fiercely opposed to the retrospective nature of this change and were of the opinion that the legislation should stand by itself. The matter proceeded to a vote and Labour used their majority to force the new clauses to stand.

The fact that Labour were able to retrospectively change a tax law is very significant as it means there is no longer certainty of one’s tax position in the United Kingdom. The introduction of this law means the govt. have set a precedent and will be able to change the wording of past tax laws at will. This is against the human rights act and one of the basic tenets of the Magna Carter. In addition, it is yet another disincentive for businesses to set up in the UK and one of the reasons why major companies are moving to Ireland.

I have now received a letter from the Inland Revenue informing me that I will have to pay back tax and interest for the duration of the scheme and I should expect to receive a closure notice. I estimate the amount I will have to pay to be in the region of hundreds of thousands of pounds. Needless to say, this will bankrupt me and I risk losing my home and everything I have worked so hard for over the last 20 years. Due to the credit crunch, there is currently a severe shortage of IT work. So for me, this will be “the straw that breaks the camels back”. It is highly likely that my wife and I and our new baby due in December may be out on the street next year thanks to the government.

The company that runs the tax scheme in the Isle Of Man, Montpelier, have applied for a Judicial Review on the grounds that retrospective tax legislation is an infringement of one’s human rights and the government are acting illegally. The case may be heard in the high court in December after which it could go to the European Court Of Human Rights. If Montpelier do win, it will be a huge embarrassment to the Labour government.. If they lose, thousands of people will be in the situation I described above.

I am a law-abiding citizen and would never enter into an arrangement such as this if I thought it was contrary to existing laws. By changing legislation retrospectively and refusing to litigate using the law as it stood when the arrangement was set up, the government has effectively admitted that the scheme was indeed perfectly legitimate.

At no time have I ever sought to hide any income from HRMC - I am not a tax evader, and neither am I a 'fat cat' who can easily afford the large sums of money that are now being demanded.

As my member of parliament, I hope I can count on your support on this issue. I felt you should be made aware of what is happening to decent law abiding people like myself and I would be truly grateful if you could perhaps raise this issue in the House Of Commons.

[darenmatthews]

Conservative Party pledge to repeal IR35

Does anyone remember this pledge?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/04...s_will_repeal/

Another example:
http://management.silicon.com/govern...1022700,00.htm