LETTER: Francis Maude worked wonders

Whilst my relationship with my friends held fast that with the Inland Revenue (HMRC) began to fail as they continued writing to me insisting that I should complete my returns online but made no provision in their software to accept a foreign postcode.

Finally, with a pile of penalty notices building up and no way of satisfying their illogical demands, I resorted to writing to my MP!

Francis Maude is however no longer my MP as I no longer vote in the UK, and therefore he was certainly not courting my vote. Indeed he need not have bothered replying to my email to his House of Commons address - but he did. And for this I am grateful.

Within hours of my email I received an acknowledgement and a promise to look into my dilemma. A couple of weeks later I was copied in on a letter from the very top of HMRC with a summary of the whys and the wherefores of the problems of living outside the UK.

I was passed on to the correct person in the HMRC and have just received a cheque refunding my penalties for not being able to comply with their impossible rules.

I would like your readers to know that Mr Maude provides you with an excellent service and that when things appear to be incomprehensible and inevitable he is the man to go to. I recommended him highly.

JENNIFER LEVENSON DE SANCHEZ

Felizzano, Italy