HMRC won't stop sending penalty notices to my brain-damaged son who communicates by blinking and has no earnings. TONY HETHERINGTON investigates

Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below. 

Mrs J.E. writes: My son Christopher suffered a cardiac arrest in 2021. He was without oxygen for a time, causing brain injury. HM Revenue & Customs are chasing him for self-assessment tax returns. In despair, I wrote twice in 2022, advising them of his brain injury and his inability to complete a tax return. He was not living with me in 2021, and I believe he had been claiming benefits.

Tony Hetherington replies: This is tragic, sad, distressing, and immensely frustrating for you. It is also a consequence of HMRC's policy of relying on low paid and poorly-trained staff to deal with situations that leave them way out of their depth. You wrote to the taxman in 2022, explaining your son Chris's brain damage and his inability to complete a tax return. The Revenue simply returned your letter, insisting his tax affairs could only be discussed with him. Since then, HMRC has demanded increasing penalty payments from Chris for failing to submit a tax return.

Hector the Tax Inspector, who represented the Inland Revenue from 1995 until 2001

By the time you contacted me, penalty demands had risen to £300. You told the Revenue that your son is a full-time care home resident. Its response was to start sending demands to him at the home.

You said to me: 'Chris cannot speak, is blind and physically disabled.' He can use his eyes to respond to simple questions, but he cannot respond to anything complex. He cannot write or sign his name.

You have tried repeatedly to explain this to the taxman, without success. Clearly upset, you told me: 'When I try to phone, I am unable to speak to a person and you eventually get cut off as they redirect you to do everything online. I am going round in circles. Life is distressing enough since his brain injury, without this added stress.'

I contacted the people I deal with at the Revenue head office. At times like this I really appreciate that they know what they are doing, but I also realise that others who are struggling cannot access them and their expertise.

I explained your son's situation. Less than 48 hours later, an official asked me for your phone number. A couple more days passed and then by chance you were called while visiting Chris at his care home.

At first, the conversation was awkward. Mark – the man from the Revenue – imagined you could get Chris to sign a power of attorney, allowing you to act for him.

Read More

Our father died seven years ago, why are we still waiting for £200,000 of our inheritance? TONY HETHERINGTON investigates

You had to explain the extent to which Chris was brain injured. You asked what would happen if things continued unchanged and Mark replied that, eventually, debt collectors would be sent to the care home.

When you pointed out that Chris could not even speak there was finally a breakthrough, with Mark suggesting an online meeting.

And this is what has now happened. Mark had gathered as much information as possible about Chris's income. He read this out and Chris was able to nod agreement. Mark himself then completed a self assessment form on his behalf and sent it to you. You put a felt tip pen into Chris's hand and he pressed it to the paper, which Mark had agreed to accept in place of a signature.

Incredibly, it turns out that instead of facing penalties, Chris is actually owed a tax refund of £396. You have told me: 'I want to say a huge thank you, as there is absolutely no way I would ever have got to this point with HMRC on my own, without your involvement.'

And let me add my own thanks to the Revenue head office staff, and especially to their colleague Mark whose help has let you and Chris draw a line under all this.

Here's how you can make HMRC listen 

Once upon a time anyone with a tax problem could go to a local tax office. Now though, the local offices have gone and we have to rely on telephone calls that go largely unanswered while being told the answers to our questions can be found online, as if we have not already looked there.

When Revenue bosses announced a plan to shut down their phones, Chris's mother asked me: 'How on earth are people in a situation such as Chris and I supposed to communicate with them without the ability to speak to a person?' Fortunately, the shutdown did not happen. And there is an actual answer to the bigger question of how to get the taxman's help. HMRC has a little known department called the Extra Support Team, which can be contacted online for a phone or video appointment. Why did nobody suggest this at any point over the past two years? Well, that comes back to cutbacks and poor organisation by Revenue bosses, coupled with inadequate training for the underpaid call handlers.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email [email protected]. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.