In the next few weeks the scrounging, money-thieving scourge of our society, otherwise politely known as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, is set to give away millions of pounds on what they call a tax-rebate, and what we call our hard-earned money…

Yes that’s right Mr Chubby-Finger-In-All-The-Pies (except for non-doms and anyone else who happens to be rich enough to have an accountant or a private firm) is set to give 3.5 million UK citizens a tax rebate  equating to £379 for the 2011-2012 tax year. The colossal admin error may be a blessing for some people; however, approximately 1.6 million people will find a letter on their doorstep over the next few weeks informing them they’ve actually not paid enough tax and will be asked to cough up close to £537.

According to the HMRC this problem has affected nearly 22 million people and dates back to 2004-2005.  A spokesperson for the HMRC said “We are pleased that we are able to start this process more quickly than in previous years, giving money back to those we owe and delivering certainty to those with something to pay”.

Of course to most of us tax is a complete mystery – a mystery which is magically removed by HR Dept fairies and taken straight out of our pay-packets. Unfortunately, it looks like they still can’t get it right – the letters are set to come out on the 17th May so beware folks…