IN the 18 months after I retired from HMRC I was asked to complete four separate tax returns despite the fact that I was a former colleague and had spent my entire working life on PAYE.

The paperwork came from six different offices, probably involving no fewer than 30 staff and the tax adjustment amounted to less than £10.

At the same time a list of 3,600 British potential tax evaders/avoiders had been passed to HMRC by the French tax authorities via whistleblower Herve Falciani with only one prosecution forthcoming.

One really has to wonder about the priorities here and whether the UK government has any interest in fairness. Perhaps the fact that we have 300 HMRC employees investigating £70bn of tax evasion and 3,250 DWP staff chasing down £1.2bn of benefit fraud provides a clue.

As coded taxpayers who are subject to constant harassment by the tax authorities from the cradle to the grave we are entitled to be very angry about these double standards. It would appear that the New York “socialite” Leona Helmsley was correct when she said that “only the little people pay taxes”.

Footnote – the former boss of HMRC David Hartnett joined the discredited bank HSBC six months after leaving office.

VJ Connor, Bishop Auckland