I shot the sheriff (well, the taxman - in my dreams)

Ah, and it's been a while since I last wrote. I wish there was an exciting reason but the truth is I've been trying to come to terms with this bloody inland revenue form for which they didn't send the completion guide although they did send 'notes' which I swear are written to confuse. I teach English as a Foreign Language and believe I have a damned good vocabulary and a better than average understanding of a written text but trying to work out whether my income from abroad, received whilst I was abroad, was income arising or income remitting is totally beyond me. I guess I'm going to have to call them (god help me if the helpline has been outsourced to India).

On top of that the weather has been extremely hot, which doesn't work in my favour at all. I love hot weather but it has to be hot and dry. Hot and humid (as we have had here) drives me up the wall.

Right, rant over, time to get some food.

Shiralee was kung fu fighting

Ok, so here's what's been happening recently. The biggie is that the tax man has decided to demand a substantial amount of money in unpaid taxes for money I received from renting the house in Nixon, - the fact that I was out of the country is, seemingly, irrelevant. I made the foolishly patriotic decision to remain resident in the UK for tax purposes while I was abroad and now I have to pay the price. I have no idea if the assessment sent is correct because I have no idea where they got their figures from. They sent me a couple of sanctimonious letters asking for documentary evidence of the income from renting, implying that I had several houses that I had rented out (so not true) and when I couldn't find the documents - and that has pissed me off no end - they made their decision based on information they already held (god knows where from) and information I had sent them based on my bank statements. So that's about £2,400 they want.

On top of that they have decided to apply capital gains tax on the sale of the house - I guess because, although I lived in the house when I first bought it, I was too nice to throw my tenant out when I came home for the summer and it was sold before I returned from Argentina. Only they haven't just made an assessment. Oh no, they've sent me a bloody long, complicated and mostly irrelevant set of forms to fill in. My reading is that I'll be taxed at 18% on the difference between the cost of the house and the the amount I received when it was sold, less £10,000 tax free allowance. Well we all know how house prices have risen over the last few years so I'm guessing I'll be in debt to the taxman until I retire.

Interestingly they add interest to the outstanding amount on a daily basis, backdated to when the tax was originally due and there is a 5% surcharge every six months on any debts outstanding. To be honest, when I received the first letter, I though it was a wind-up (it was dated 1st April), then I reasoned that I hadn't earned that much from the rental - I still have to check those figures - and, when I got the demand I was both angry and worried. Angry because I have always paid my dues to the country, even when I wasn't living here and worried because I hate owing money. I even considered taking in a lodger (you can received up to £4250pa without having to declare it) but then I'd have to pay the full council tax and I wouldn't get any benefit should I become unemployed again. I know it sounds mean but I'm sick of giving and getting next to nothing in return.

So now I've adopted a 'que sera, sera' attitude. I will pay the money - I don't have any choice and I'm pretty sure I won't be getting any tax rebates for past years (even if I'm entitled to them) but as I earn less than £12,000 a year gross, the tax man will just have to accept what I can afford, when I can afford it.

And I'm not going to worry about it and I'll be damned if I'm going to lose any more sleep over it!

hush, hush, whisper who dares...

Sorry I've missed a couple of days but things have been happening. I will update you soon but in the meantime I have to say I haven't been sleeping very well. It's mainly due to the heat - I've had all the windows open but that just means I get woken up early in the morning by the birds who've nested just outside my window. So this is me:


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