| The postman has just dropped the usual Monday morning post through my letterbox.But amongst all the usual junk mail were two buff envelopes bearing the mark of the beast, HM Customs and Revenue . Although I should have nothing to fear from HM Customs and Revenue, my hands started to shake and I got a little sweaty.Upon opening these 2 envelopes, I found 7 sheets of A4 paper containing complicated equations and lists of allowances.It would appear I have been the subject of a pretty thorough tax inspection.After wading through all the paperwork I got to the last page which informed me I have paid to much tax, and that HM Revenue and Customs have decided I am due a tax rebate, and a cheque was enclosed for......... £15.70.Why do they bother ? How much has it cost to get to the point of issuing a cheque for such a paltry amount.Could they not have just made an adjustment to my future tax payments ?! In fact, I have no idea why the taxman would be taking such an in depth look at me.I retired 3 years ago and only have a small police pension for income.True, I have quite a large amount of savings but that is in a bank, and tax paid on the very low amount of interest I receive. Surely a cursory glance at my finances would have told these people all they need to know without going through a full blown investigation.Talk about a waste of time. |