As a regular reader of your paper it sometimes makes me think that the only people paying tax in this country are the unfortunate lower paid on P.A.Y.E., the higher paid and the wealthy, apart from being able to claim liberal expenses for just about anything, have now got friends in HSBC to assist them in evading tax, on what is called an industrial scale, on the remainder of their income, untroubled by HMRC who seem to be impotent when dealing with the wealthy. Little wonder they are called pathetic by Margaret Hodge MP but let them loose on an individual such as my wife and they can spend months showing how tough they are.

Briefly she worked in a care home at a time when she was not allowed to join the pension scheme, as she was working part time. However, following the European Judgement which made it illegal to ban part time workers from joining pension schemes, she became entitled to retrospective entry to her Employers Occupational Pension Scheme for the period of 6.4.88 to 16.8.93, despite the fact that she had by now been medically retired as being unfit for the work. After a twelve year legal battle, during which the respondents paid a firm of Bristol solicitors £100,127 (these figures courtesy of the Freedom of Information Act) culminated on 23 March 2006 when the Employment Tribunal at Bristol awarded her Retrospective Membership of the First Respondents (Wiltshire County Council) pension scheme from 6.4.88 to 16.8.93 and she received a lump sum of around £5,000 in settlement, also being told she was entitled to arrears of her National Insurance Contributions, but when she applied to HMRC she was informed that although she was entitled to arrears of NICS (National Insurance Contributions) there would be an investigation by HMRC, the Pension Service and Social Security. After a seven month investigation, she was informed she had been overpaid SERPS (State Earnings Related Pension Scheme) and as she was now drawing her old age pension, the derisory sum of £63.25, she was informed that this would be reduced by 41 pence per week.

You couldn’t make it up! The whiz kids in their offices, after a seven month investigation, had saved the Inland Revenue 41 pence per week!

One hopes that after all the number crunching, they received substantial bonuses!

Frank Skull Summerhouse Road Wroughton