Hi all, I’m looking for an answer to a tricky situation re a dispute I have with the taxman. The reason why it’s tricky is because of the territiory where I live, suffice to say our legal system is based on the Law of England and Wales. Please don’t say that I should get a lawyer! We could spend ages talking about that very issue another day, believe me. Let’s just say that where I live there is a climate of fear when it comes to opposing the taxman! I’ll give you the facts and end with a simple question for the legal experts amongst you all.

1. A disagreement in the year 2000 over £6,000 in witheld allowances I tried to claim, ended in a dispute between myself and the taxman. The result of this is that I have not paid income tax since 2000. A notice to pay £5,700 was served on me and I appealed this judgement to the courts.
2. I represented myself at the Court heaing in January which was adjourned. One option I was given was to talk to the taxman to try to resolve the issue.
3. At that meeting it was established that the taxman was wrong to withold the £6,000 in allowances, which they freely admitted. However, they refused to rectfy the anomaly saying I should have done so at the time, in 2000. I said that I had done so by declaring a dispute. The taxman said I should have used other methods to ensure that the £6,000 was given. I said I would leave it to the Court to decide who was right.
4. The taxman said the the consequences of going back to court would be disastrous for me because they would “get around the Court…” They said that if I refused to pay the £5,700 and I chose to go back to Court, they would massively increase the next demand. This would then be enforced by them in the Court and as a self – employed person working by myself, I did not have the time nor resources for lawyers, Courts, appeals and such like legal matters.
5. I declared the meeting as over because this was a threat. They said that it was not a threat but merely an explanation of how things were going to be if I was refusing to pay the £5,700.
6. I reapplied to the Court for a further hearing and I now await their notification of the date I should attend. Two weeks after I filled in the Court papers, the taxman carried out the threat made at the meeting by sending me a furthur demand for £7,000.

Question. Dose this action by the taxman constitute Contempt of Court?

Hi Sam,
I am not a legal expert, but as far as I understand, any demand for payment needs to be justified, whether you are a private person, company or anybody else. I know you said not to recommend a solicitor, but have you tried solicitors online. They don't cost a fortune. I once used them and you choose how much you will pay for an answer. I think I paid £10-15. It is not a exactly an interractive conversation, but it may give you an idea of where you stand and what to do next. After all, even if you spend £10, 20 or even more, it is not such a big amount if they potentially can save you £7000.

Hi Sam, like Konek I am not an expert, from what I can gather is that the court has not made a judgement yet, but adjorned it, if that is right, then the taxman is not in contempt of court as the court has not ruled but given you time to resolve the matter, I agree with Konek, a small layout for expert advice online would be the way foward