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Geoff Jones, who runs a small business with his wife, spent five years battling with HMRC over tax payments he was ordered to make. HMRC sent him a bill for 拢42,000 in 2002.

He eventually won the case against him after the House of Lords ruled he hadn't avoided paying tax. He said what happened to him continues to raise questions about how tax inspectors carry out their investigations:

鈥淚t makes my blood boil that they could put so much effort into hounding someone like me, the small person who hadn't done anything wrong, yet these large companies, and people who owe millions and millions, it鈥檚 more than frustrating, how can you trust anyone like that,鈥� said Mr Jones to Today programme reporter Sima Kotecha.

HMRC issued the following statement: "We treat all taxpayers impartially, but our specific approach will depend on the scale and complexity of the taxpayer. How we deal with individuals in PAYE with the simplest tax affairs is obviously different to how we intervene with a large and complex business, but the principles that we apply are exactly the same.

"Our aim is to help all businesses to get their taxes right, and help those who make mistakes to correct them as quickly as possible. Like any very large organisation, we know we sometimes make mistakes, and it's important that when we do we admit to our errors and put things right.

"Being impartial also means that we will always come down hard on those who deliberately try to cheat the tax system, whether they are wealthy individuals, large businesses or SMEs. We have a wide range of powers to tackle tax cheats, and we select the most appropriate for the circumstances and for collecting the tax due.

"The UK's five million small businesses are the life blood of the economy and we want to help them to flourish, which is why we're helping tens of thousands of businesses to claim a range of tax reliefs, and have helped almost a million employers to claim a 拢2,000 national insurance rebate through the Employment Allowance. We have also created an online tax account that more than two million businesses are using to keep track of their tax affairs, and we help hundreds of thousands of small businesses to stagger their tax debts through time to pay arrangements."

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