On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:52:33 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

Friend of mine in the building trade recently got 'looked at' by The
Revenue, and they even asked him how many haircuts he had per year, and how
much he had spent on his kids' Christmas presents ...

I think this is standard, as a few years ago a freelancer I know
received the same treatment (aimed at finding out how much he was
actually spending, so that could be compared to his declared income).
He said it was fairly terrifying, and the process ended with his
writing a large cheque.

HMRC and its predecessors have had a lo-ong time to hone these
techniques.

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:19:34 GMT, Rob
wrote:

The only fly/ointment has been certain telephone calls -
probably to mobiles (I haven't paid that much attention).

Perhaps you don't know about the Money Saving Expert? A page on that
site lists all the ways to get lower-price phone calls, and is updated
daily. For calls to mobiles, it lists several 0870 numbers you can
call, and then enter the mobile number you want. The best current
deal there for calls to mobiles is 7p/minute. It's been as low as 3p.

http://callchecker.moneysavingexpert...cker/index.php

A very useful site all round.

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:24:20 -0000, "Dave"
wrote:

I asked why this suddenly came about after being with BT/Post Office for
more than 45+ years !!! I was refered to previous answer !. (these drones
just trot out the same script every time).

A technique I have found helpful in such situations is to tell the
drone you want to speak to his supervisor. They all have one, and
will usually transfer you pronto. The supervisor usually has more
discretion with respect to problem solving.

Adrian
..

Adrian Stott