From Despair to Relief
Lynn’s tax battle and finding a new life
A Time of Despair
Jan went to see Lynn in her self employment curtain and blinds unit, which was full of material. She explained that she owed nearly £30,000 to HMRC and they were chasing her hard but she didn’t understand why she owed so much money. She said that she had been very ill. Lynn went on to explain that firstly her long term relationship broke down, followed by her mother suffering dementia, another relative committing suicide, her partner in a new relationship dying of cancer, loss of several friends and their relatives, loss of her brother and finally her mother dying, all over the space of a few short years. Whilst this was all going on, Lynn’s business deteriorated and HMRC still wanted 6 years of tax returns filing and taxes paying…….Lynn had fallen into depression, found she couldn’t cope and had ignored HMRC.
Turning the Tide: The Struggle and Relief
We contacted HMRC on several occasions, explaining Lynn’s condition and the incorrect tax bills and yet they still chased (bullied?) Lynn. In one instance Lynn rang Jan in tears and after calling HMRC straight back, Jan obtained an apology from HMRC and some breathing space.
Our job in helping Lynn was made more difficult as Lynn had provided records to her previous accountant who then didn’t return them so we had to help her utilise what she’d got to compile the tax returns, which we managed to do from various (reliable) sources. Marie wrote a very long letter to HMRC asking for Special Relief (it had been refused on an earlier occasion), giving a full history of Lynn’s situation and explaining how depression manifests itself. HMRC thankfully accepted that Lynn had been ill, cancelling all the penalties and Determinations. Lynn had only around £5,000 in tax and interest to settle.
A New Chapter
Lynn eventually found the money to fully pay off HMRC and has largely recovered from depression. She told us how happy she was with what we/Marie had done for her. She also told us that she found that she loved her trips to Thailand so much, she had decided to move and start a new life out there with her friends. We were sad to see her leave but happy to see her content at last.
We’re not just about numbers, we’re about people and we felt privileged to use our expertise to make a real difference in Lynn’s life, assisting Lynn in regaining her financial footing and confidence.
A New Chapter
Lynn eventually found the money to fully pay off HMRC and has largely recovered from depression. She told us how happy she was with what we/Marie had done for her. She also told us that she found that she loved her trips to Thailand so much, she had decided to move and start a new life out there with her friends. We were sad to see her leave but happy to see her content at last.
We’re not just about numbers, we’re about people and we felt privileged to use our expertise to make a real difference in Lynn’s life, assisting Lynn in regaining her financial footing and confidence.
For us, as Lynn said goodbye to go to Thailand, we were left with a powerful reminder that the work we do can genuinely change lives for the better.
