A large-firm accountant has won an apology and a £750 'consolatory payment' after years of trying to settle his own tax affairs with the Inland Revenue. His was one of eight complaints, all upheld, picked out by ombudsman Michael Buckley in his annual report, including one in which the Revenue and its own adjudicator took over ten years to sort out a Capital Gains Tax case after giving a company director wrong advice on how to handle his sales of shares in his company. Buckley found these delays were 'extreme' and amounted to maladministration, and the exercise of discretion against the taxpayer was flawed. The Revenue gave its 'unreserved apologies' and agreed to cover the director's costs. In the case of the accountant, Buckley found the Revenue 'failed to get a grip with problems before they became unmanageably complicated'. The Revenue agreed a deal by way of a 'global reconciliation', which was earlier refused, and discussed with 'Mr B' the details on which it would be based. He was a member of a large London firm in 1980 before moving to set up his own business. His affairs were initially complicated and the move increased the number of tax offices handling them to five. Buckley found 'communications were poor: both between the Revenue and Mr B, who had to wait two years for a reply to one letter; and between various Revenue sections.'
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