Distress of Loan Charge 2019 laid bare

The type of evidence which MPs say they want from contractors about what it is like to face Loan Charge 2019 has emerged before their inquiry has got off the ground.

In a page entitled “reader reactions,” the Financial Times published about 10 accounts excerpted from emails and letters from contractors and other taxpayers facing the April tax.

They include:

• A man hospitalised from a suicide attempt lost his marriage and sold the family home
• A retired couple, one of whom is in their late sixties, who face losing their life savings
• A husband with depression who separated from his wife and left their four children  
• An airline pilot suffering from stress who still flies 200 people per plane at age 63
• A father-of-two facing bankruptcy at age 37
• A signage business with 12 members of staff that faces closure
• A man who moved his family from one house and into another just to pay the interest
• A man who has drained ISA/life-savings; drawn dividends; re-mortgaged, borrowed
• A man who got HMRC reassurances on two occasions, four years apart.

Any person affected by the 2019 Loan Charge has until Monday February 25th 2019 to email the Loan Charge APPG about the charge’s impact on their finances, career, life and family.