As old Billy Shakespeare once said.
My war with HMRC enters a new battle phase. While I was away in Libya a little brown envelope arrived. I opened it last night when I got back and was not surprised at the contents. Well, I was a little surprised to see that they had knocked off another £700. Each time I write they respond by reducing the the amount. I have saved several thousand pounds by writing to them. And yet I will not be satisfied until they write back and say that they have zeroed my account. It shouldn't take too much longer.
See what happens when you just say "No"?
I have remained honourable throughout. I asked them to justify the demand. They could not. I asked them to validate their loss. They could not. I asked them to prove that I, as a human being, was obligated to pay. They could not do so.
Their letter was from the Complaints Division. Essentially it said that my complaint (I had made no complaint whatsoever) had been investigated and that they were still right to demand money from me. They removed the interest (that's the £700 I mentioned above) and told me that I should have words with my Accountant, or I should have words with my local tax office. I opted for the latter. My Accountant is programmed to calculate my taxes, and inform me as to how and when I send payment to HMRC. Their mission is not to question the legality of payments. I chose to write a letter to my local tax office. I recapped events in a single page. I laid their options out: answer my questions, or take me to court, or zero my account.
Today I offered them their chance to meet me in a court room. Usually it's the other way around. I am prepared. I will represent myself, and I will win. I have not lost a legal battle yet and I will not lose this one. They may wish to bully me some more, they may wish to reduce the amount still further, they may also opt to sell my "debt" to a debt collection agency, or they may want to take me on in a court room.
I will let you know what they decide.
EDIT: I just remembered another small matter. Do you recall me telling you that Companies House had fined me £1,500 for late filing? They wrote to me and said that I owed them nothing. All I asked them to do was to prove that I owed them the money in the first place. As I said at the time, I knew they were unable to do this. Victory is mine, I do believe.
CR.
9 comments:
Quality stuff, Cap'n.
When you're done, write the book. ;-)
Thanks DP.
Anon for now but a fellow accountancy practice customer has very recently quashed a 12K bank loan with contract law.
Another is going after DCA's, cards and bank loans she was left with by a shit of a husband using contract law and I am aiming to zero a credit card debt of almost 11k the same way.
Will post again once I have more news.
Anon,
I hide under a nomme de guerre as well. I'll dash into the spotlight when the need arises.
Good to hear that you know of successes too.
A friend of mine wiped out £24K "owed" to HMRC with one letter.
I am obviously crap at this. It has taken me 4 letters to dump only £3K.
Still, thats less than a quid in stamps. I am still happy with my progress.
DCA's are easy. Just say thanks and then tell them to piss off. They settled your debt without even asking your permission. And without a signed contract in place! More fool them.
CR.
Well done that man (thats all of you) I only wish that I actually owed some firm money so I could do the same , maybe I will have to run up some debt !!!!
Sounds like hell on earth. Victory shall be yours.
Thanks Indy.
I have not tried to avoid repaying personal debts. Any that I do have (just a loan for a car, actually) I repay. I voluntarily entered into that contract.
My beef is with those "debts" that are foisted on to me by the state. The various taxes. If there is a mechanism for not paying them, I am going to try to do that.
CR.
James,
It really isn't. A bit of careful research, and a letter constructed with some thought behind it, that's all this is.
All I am doing is following my own advice, which is to question everything.
None of this frightens me in the least. There was a time when a visit to court would have me scared to death. Now that I know that they are all actors, and I have scrutinised the script, it holds no fear for me. I think that is the key: losing the fear.
CR.
My credit card company answered my "complaint" by passing my details to an Indian company whose staff phoned me day and night. I stopped it by one letter- "did you know that the prevention of terrorism act allows for a 10 year jail sentence for passing details of ex-hm forces to a third party?" A simple question was all it took, and if you word it like that you don't even have to be ex-army (although in fact I am).
Captain, the judge practices magic from the bench based on words. He utters a "sentence" and you get a "spell" in jail. Why do you think literacy is falling and txt n vid n tv replaces books? Because this word-magic is a double-edged weapon, it's sharp but needs precision.
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