The Hardman Directory

Information

The taxing issue

No matter what the crime is, taxpayers still have a legal obligation to deal with their tax affairs whilst in prison or on licence and are not sheltered, as some think, by being in the 'prison bubble'. This is particularly relevant to those that were self-employed on entering prison and need to complete self-assessment tax returns. Those that were employed when entering prison may also be due a tax refund.

Who we are

The Tax Academy CIC is a Social Enterprise that provides tax support to those that are in prison and under licence within the Probation Service.

It is the only prison body that specifically represents the prison sector through the HMRC Individuals Stakeholder Forum, giving you the prisoner ‘a voice’ within HMRC. It is also the only prison organisation that is a member of the HMRC Voluntary Sector Tax Resolution Service (VSTRS), meaning we deal with a specialist HMRC team not available to the general public.

What we do

The Tax Academy undertakes the following activities with the assistance of VSTRS. We can:

help you sort out your tax affairs while you are in prison, at no cost to you, by undertaking a four-year tax review to ensure your tax affairs are up to date prior to release
work with you on filing outstanding self-assessment tax returns, appealing tax penalties and managing tax debt with HMRC

Many of our clients in prison come back to us after release and commission us to provide ongoing tax support.

Paul Retout, founder of The Tax Academy, is a tax specialist, tax author and a regular contributor of tax articles to the prison newspaper insidetime.