A letter was sent to HMRC by Ms Adjei, stating that she had been on a two-year secondment and returned in December 2019. She clarified that she was not self-employed but was employed under PAYE and responsible for all PAYE payments. Unfortunately, the person she entrusted with this responsibility did not handle it as expected, leading her into debt.
After several petition hearings, delayed by pandemic restrictions, a bankruptcy order was finally issued in January 2021. However, Ms Adjei was absent from the hearing as it was conducted remotely and she was not provided with dial-in details.
In April 2021, Ms Adjei applied for the annulment of the order, reiterating that she was never a partner or employer at the health center.
On the other hand, Paul Doyle, HMRC’s main witness, argued that she was indeed an employer and claimed that HMRC records confirmed this. However, he failed to provide any evidence to support his claim.
Judge Sally Barber, who presided over the case, criticized Mr Doyle’s evidence as “disingenuous at times” and found that his written statements were unreliable and filled with inaccuracies.
It was also discovered that HMRC mishandled and failed to properly process a number of documents related to the case. Judge Barber noted that various documents sent by Ms Adjei’s advisers were not showing up in HMRC’s system.
By March 2023, the court eventually annulled the bankruptcy order, dismissed the petition, and ruled that Ms Adjei was not responsible for the costs.
Tax Hacks columnist Mike Warburton described the case as a “Kafkaesque plot to pursue an innocent employee to the point of bankruptcy.”
A spokesperson for HMRC stated that they are carefully reviewing the judgment and examining their handling of the case.
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