BN66 - Time to fight back (Chapter 3)

[seadog]

Clarification

European Courts have just "clarified" the definition of marshmallows?

After 13 years £2m in legal fees and £3.5M in damages M&S have won a case against HMRC to reclaim VAT on marshmallows.

Another case which shows that HMRC cannot be judge and jury without scrutiny from a higher court

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Even if we win the JR

we may still need the help of Parliament to overturn the legislation.

Remember what Mr B said in his newsletter. HMRC don't need to take any notice of the JR even if a declaration of incompatibility is made.

Let's get Parliament on our side now.

MPs will disapprove of what we did on moral grounds, but does the punishment (bankruptcy) fit the "crime"? Especially, when HMRC could have stopped us compounding the "crime" years ago.

Imagine if the Police allowed criminals to rack up several offences before arresting them so they could bang them away for longer. Is it really that different?

[seadog]

Social network sites

Intresting article in the telegraph this morning about the "Digital age".

It describes how groups are using Facebook etc to get support for ther causes.

They quote an example of an about turn by HSBC over extra fees on student accounts, but abondoned it after angry reports fron Facebook

Would these sites offer any way of reaching other people who are in faced with retrospective tax demands to join the forum.

[TheBarCapBoyz]

Imagine if the Police allowed criminals to rack up several offences before arresting them so they could bang them away for longer. Is it really that different?

Thats a f@ucking good point.

[WavesAtPlay]

Letters to MPs

We passed the 100 mark yesterday, and that doesn't include where people have forwarded the letter on to others.

Even if you wrote last year, please write again.

Keep 'em coming!!!

Sent off the letter to my MP (Mike Penning) today. It would also be useful if we had a count of how many have actually written or e-mailed.

It will also be very interesting to see what kind of response there is to it.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Letters to suit all circumstances

Although the main letter we have been sending focuses on the severe hardship that many are facing, I have got a couple of other versions for people not in as dire a situation.

Let me know which type of letter you would prefer.

Incidentally, if you are in the mood for bashing HMRC I've got one that's just the ticket!!!

[Fog]

Sent off the letter to my MP (Mike Penning) today. It would also be useful if we had a count of how many have actually written or e-mailed.

It will also be very interesting to see what kind of response there is to it.

Mine was written - sent on Tuesday

[elpinar]

as someone not facing finaincial ruin (and i have just emailed DR asking for the letter ) is it worth having one that goes along the lines of.... its not going to ruin me but thats my pension planning out the window being as i was doing what you said and making provison due to the sh*t state of the pensions you lot offer..... and now you/re planning to scupper that by nicking it all back - so i will be in hardshiop when im old and geriatric and expensive for you to keep - so I'll cost you then if i dont now

[HMRCAreCrooks]

TaxAid?

Has anybody spoken to people like TaxAid? They seem to have initiaitives for pushing the government for tax reforms. I wonder what their take is on all of this?

[DonkeyRhubarb]

as someone not facing finaincial ruin (and i have just emailed DR asking for the letter ) is it worth having one that goes along the lines of.... its not going to ruin me but thats my pension planning out the window being as i was doing what you said and making provison due to the sh*t state of the pensions you lot offer..... and now you/re planning to scupper that by nicking it all back - so i will be in hardshiop when im old and geriatric and expensive for you to keep - so I'll cost you then if i dont now

The main letter is so short and simple, that it's easy to cut and change to suit virtually any situation.

This was deliberate. You want to grab their attention in the first sentence, and then give the minimum of detail. Ie. it's the Sun (as opposed to the Telegraph) version of the story!