Know of a Middle Eastern skipper who was commuting back to the UK as his wife and kids were there. He then got sick of the sand and returned to be in the left seat for a low cost carrier. When he applied for his UK tax code again and told the taxman he was back home permanent, he was investigated.
He was hit with a backdated taxbill of 5 years and interest added. All in all it was approx 130K+ Obiously he had no cash to pay it so they started Bankruptcy proceedings and he was forced to sell his family home. the equity in it was about a 5th of what he owed. He begged the taxman to let him keep his house as he had a wife and young kids to provide for and if he was forced to sell this would stress him. The consequences would be him losing his job etc. and he would then have to claim benefits and move into a council house on benefits too which would be costly to the government. He would try and borrow the equity from a relative so therefore could he keep the house? The answer... NO!
He is now not flying and living on the benefits - Where is the logic in that?