Volunteer support group – the Loan Charge Action Group (LCAG) – which represents contractors and freelance workers, has called on HMRC to set up a 24 hour ‘Suicide Hotline’ to deal with the increasing number of people concerned about the upcoming 2019 Loan charge.
They say that hundreds of workers are having suicidal thoughts as a result of the new loan charge and the large tax bills that it results in.
We previously wrote about the new loan charge and its effects but this is a new step forward.
People effected include nurses, doctors, teachers, social workers and other contractors who were mis-sold employment payment arrangements by employers and agencies, and now face huge back dated tax bills.
LCAG says it has been inundated with worried calls and says that it does not have the resources to handle their distress and that HMRC should be responsible.
The schemes – many of which were perfectly legal at the time – have now been declared illegal under new legislation and HMRC is seeking to recover the tax that these people and businesses did not previously pay, going back as far as 1999.
A cross party group of MPs is currently challenging the legislation, stating it would be better to apply it going forward rather than backdating it for amounts that many simply do not have the means to pay.