End in sight?

I 'enjoyed' Andy Wells' article 'No end in sight' (see related link above). Every paragraph — no every sentence — reflected our daily experience at TaxHelp for Older People ('TOP') where we are never quite sure whether to laugh cry or chew the carpet sometimes.

We recently phoned the number given on the letter for the debt management office — 'Sorry I can't talk to you about the client I'm only a callcentre'.

Other examples are the client who phoned HMRC to ask what his allowances were for this year. Reply: 'we can't give financial advice you'll have to find a financial adviser'. A Newcastle HMRC officer explained to a TOP client: 'you don't get age allowance because your state pension exceeds your allowances'. And Barnstaple tax office advised that 'the blind person's allowance is restricted at 10%'. We also receive constant calls to...