HMRC apologises after woman with Alzheimer’s is hit with fines for late tax returns

A woman with Alzheimer’s and her husband have been apologized to by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) after they threatened her with a £10-a-day fine for late tax returns.

Alf Morley, pictured left with Linda, says he tried to tell the tax office that she couldn’t complete the tax return herself, and that he had power of attorney to do it for her.

But his efforts came to nothing and he told us: ‘I cannot complete the form online and HMRC have been unable to send me a paper copy, despite several requests and reassurance that a copy is in the post.’

Mr Morley says this led to his wife being informed by letter in mid-June that she now faced a £300 fine.

From May 1, she was also fined £10 a day until she completed a tax return.

When the 76-year-old retired taxi driver contacted This is Money, he told us he was having trouble sleeping because of the worry. He added: ‘This is causing me unnecessary stress and I can’t see any way to change the situation.’

After discussing his case with HMRC, it became apparent that the power of attorney Mr Morley had submitted for his wife had not been properly recorded in the systems due to an isolated clerical error.

A spokesperson said: We will speak to Mr Morley to apologize and confirm that we have fully recorded the power of attorney in our systems.

‘Once he files a report for Ms Morley appealing against the fines, we will cancel the fines.’

Mrs Morley, 77, a retired teaching assistant, receives a state pension and two small private pensions that together amount to less than the £12,570 personal exemption, the threshold for starting to pay income tax.

Normally this means that she does not have to complete a tax return.

But the couple, who live in London, jointly owned a property that was sold in October 2022 and on which they paid capital gains tax.

Mr Morley says he made a £100 error when he filed this, for which he was fined. However, they were both also given late payment fines, which they appealed.

His appeal was successfully completed after he explained the very difficult circumstances at the time. However, he said Ms Morley’s appeal was unsuccessful because she had not signed the letter.

However, this was because she was unable to do so and he had power of attorney.

After asking HMRC to investigate, we were told that due to the sale of the property, a tax return for Mrs Morley would need to be filed for 2022/23.

However, once you submit this along with an appeal, the late fees will be canceled.

It was confirmed that there are no other fines outstanding and that a request for a tax return for 2023/2024 and any future years is cancelled.

In late May, almost a month before he contacted This is Money, Mr Morley wrote to HMRC about his wife’s situation and protested against her fines.

He said in his letter: ‘I cannot understand the fact that you have not written to me to confirm my power of attorney.’

He explained how he had tried to fill out his wife’s tax return online, but never received the code on their phone or email to proceed.

“I also called to try to resolve this issue. After a long wait on the phone, I spoke to someone who told me I would receive a paper copy. This was eight weeks ago.

‘I called again five weeks ago and was told I would receive one in the mail within a few days. But I’m still waiting.’

And he added: ‘I have my hands full caring for my wife full-time and could really do it without the extra stress this brings.’

After HMRC subsequently wrote to say that daily penalties would be imposed, Mr Morley contacted This is Money as we had previously helped him resolve the delay in receiving his State Pension.