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28th Mar 2024
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HMRC has duty of care in contractor case

by The Editor at 14:07 05/11/07 (CIS News)
A recent case at the Court of Appeal was found in favour of a small civil engineering contractor and against HM Revenue and Customs. There were some aspects which will need further clarification but on the points found for Neil Martin, HMRC have a duty of care and where they have made persistent errors a taxpayer can sue HMRC in cases of negligence.
On two separate occasions Mr Martin applied for CIS certificates and on both occasions there were serious delays the first being over 100 days.

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During these periods Mr Martin could not be paid for work he had done within the construction industry as he did not have a valid certificate.

This meant the bankruptcy of both his companies, the effects of which still have a harmful impact on his business today some eight years later.

The Revenue can no longer be dismissive of complaints of negligence and demands for compensation as this landmark case sets a precedent for others who have been wronged by HMRC to enable them to get a just settlement.

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Carl Whittaker from Qdos Consulting said: "We at Qdos have been representing clients in investigation cases for a number of years and more recently we have been very active in defending contractors in the construction industry.

"We heartily welcome this decision as the stakes in cases of compensation for negligence against HMRC have just been raised. There were previously little prospects of success in negligence claims against HMRC but now the prospects are distinctly brighter."
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Susie Hughes
The Editor © Hardhatter 2007

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