A spokesman said: ”We know that receiving letters from the tax man can sometimes be an intimidating experience. Our customers told us that the letters we wrote when checking tax returns were unclear or contained jargon. We are committed to improving customers’ experience of the UK tax system and reducing the costs involved in dealing with us.”

The new focus aims to use simple and clear language, give clear timescales for action by HMRC and its customers. For example a phrase saying: 'reply by 30 January 2010' instead of 'reply within 30 days of the date of this letter', or 'we will be in touch by…' instead of 'prior to hearing further from us…'.

Other changes include explaining what will happen during the check and why HERC is asking for relevant material as well as explaining concepts and terms. Since introducing the letters last April, there has been positive feedback from businesses. However nothing’s changed about all of us having to pay up in time.