‘I am writing to thank you for sorting out my tax affairs. You do not know how much this means to me. I had given up writing to HMRC and then I saw your advert in Inside Time. I have no help on the outside so what you have done means a great deal to me.’
M.G. HMP Belmarsh
‘For the last five years I have been receiving letters from the tax office saying I owed them money as I had not sent back my self-assessment tax returns. I had no idea how to go about it and I chose to ignore the letters. But I was really panicking when I got a call from debt collectors to my flat last year saying I owed nearly £5K.
When I came to prison in December I saw your advert in on of the prison papers and I thought why not? I actually had the intention of sorting out a payment plan or something that would show I was willing to pay the money I owed.
So, for you to get rid of that debt and then get me a tax rebate was amazing, and I am hugely grateful for your work.’
R.R. HMP Hollesley Bay
‘Thank you for all your hard work and that of your volunteers that have helped me and others sort their tax affairs out. You have done a great job for me and others alike and hope you carry on helping prisoners with their tax affairs.’
T.H. HMP Hull
‘Paul Retout has been instrumental in making right my affairs with HMRC. His service was (& is) excellent & for a man in my position at the time it enabled me to be sure in the knowledge that everything would be in order for the future, so that I would be able to focus on what was most important to reach my future goals.
Many thousands of pounds of penalties were quashed also and overall, this was a tremendous burden removed from my shoulders and a great relief.’
S.M. HMP Prescoed
‘I was extremely pleased with the excellent service given to me by The Tax Academy and I would like to vouch for the legitimacy of the organisation. They have assisted me in appealing my tax penalties and ultimately obtaining for me a tax refund.
Paul Retout has demonstrated to me his professional qualities and understanding and has been both competent and dependable. He also managed to resolve an existing complicated tax issue that dated back several years, with a genuine assistance which has led to a positive resolution.’
T.O. HMP High Down
‘I am writing this to show my thanks for all the help Paul from The Tax Academy gave me while I was in prison.
I have worked all my adult life mainly as a self-employed bricklayer and was always able to sort my own tax affairs out. But once I was in prison I had no way to speak to HMRC to get my tax affairs sorted out.
Prison is a very worrying and stressful place without the added stress of getting into debt over unpaid tax.
One day I was reading the Inside Time prison newspaper and saw The Tax Academy advert offering tax advice and help. It was honestly a relief to see this advert and started to write a letter with as much information as I could remember and post this to Paul.
After a while and with further correspondence I received a letter and a check for a rebate, it could not of came at a better time as I was in my D cat and was able to pay the check into my bank. Once it cleared, I was able to send some much-needed money to my ex-partner for my two children. It also gave me a start for when I got out and got ready back to work.
But probably most importantly it gave me piece of mind knowing that when released I did not have a huge tax bill and a load of stress to worry about.
This is just a quick letter giving a brief explanation of how Paul has helped me I could say a lot more of his help. I would recommend him to anyone in prison or in need of any help with their tax issues.
Now I am back working and have been since my release I have asked Paul to continue to do my tax returns and will keep using his skill and knowledge for as long as possible.
I cannot praise Paul and The Tax Academy and everything he does for prisoners enough.’