Revenue moves to forgive

TAXPAYERS who think their affairs are in order tend to get upset if an unexpected bill arrives from the Inland Revenue a year or so later. However, they may not have to pay the full amount of tax if the Revenue 'has not made timely use of the information available'.

The proportion of arrears that will be waived varies according to income. A new scale introduced last week means that anyone with a gross income of pounds 15,500 or less will be let off all the tax, but those on more than pounds 40,000 will have to pay in full. The same scale applies to pensioners, who used to have a higher income limit.

Qualifying for remission of the tax, is not quite as simple as it appears. The taxpayer must have given full information in a tax return or other correspondence, on which the Revenue has failed to act for at least one year after the tax year in which the information was received.

Income Remission 15,500 or less . . . . . . . . . . . .All 15,501 - 18,000 . . . . . . . . . . . 75% 18,001 - 22,000 . . . . . . . . . . . 50% 22,001 - 26,000 . . . . . . . . . . . 25% 26,001 - 40,000 . . . . . . . . . . . 10% 40,001 or more . . . . . . . . . . . .None