Taxman is at fault, too

Timing is everything. It is the failure of some 200,000 people to pay their tax bills on time, coupled with the fact they ignored subsequent warnings to cough up, that has caused HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to propose that money owed should be seized from the bank accounts of the wantonly tardy without a court order. Given that filling in a tax form is on a par with going to the dentist for a tooth extraction in the popularity stakes, the proposal has inevitably been greeted with anger and disgust.