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It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of Rosina Pullman, former director of TaxAid.
On page 22, we publish Stephen Banyard’s tribute to Rosina, but I would like to add a few words of my own here.
Rosina was a force of nature. She was one of those people who you could never say no to. I have many memories of meeting her at receptions and being asked – perhaps cajoled would be a better word – to support the charity by helping with advice or speaking at conferences. She approached you with a lovely mixture of a beguiling smile and a steely determination that was impossible to resist. It was a real pleasure when I was able to present her with the award for lifetime achievement at the 2016 Taxation Awards.
It is thanks to people like Rosina – and the many other volunteers too numerous to mention here – that the tax world has such a thriving charitable sector. In an ideal world, of course, there would be no need for organisations like TaxAid but, alas, the need for their service only continues to grow. I would recommend that everyone reading the magazine this week considered whether they or their firm can make some contribution, whether financial or practical, to the work of the tax charities.
I certainly had my eyes opened a few years ago when I got involved in a very sad case where a wife, who had been forced by her husband into signing papers which she didn’t understand, faced demands for life-changing sums of tax on money she had never seen. Finding the right way through the system to get to a sensible result took me hours: on her own she would have had no chance.
If you do one thing...
What’s your digital appetite? Read the last HMRC research report: Contact method preferences and digital appetite research (tinyurl.com/5n8kxhbj).
