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A homeless man living in a sleeping bag was hounded by HMRC for £1,600 over a late tax return, a court heard.

Krzysztof Pokorowski, who was penniless and living in a sleeping bag, was pursued for the fines despite not having an actual address to receive correspondence.

He had never even received HMRC's letters because he'd been thrown out of his home in Walthamstow, east London.

Along with this, all his belongings had been lost or stolen.

A judge slammed their treatment of Mr Pokorowski as “scandalous”.

Overturning the fines in a damning ruling, Judge Nicholas Aleksander said: "For HMRC to expect a homeless person to keep them up to date on his address is ridiculous - and just needs to be stated to show its absurdity."

The self-employed electrician's life hit the rocks in 2014 when he was in a bar and his drink was spiked with drugs, said the judge.

"He lost his job, he exhausted all of his savings, he was evicted from his house, and all of his belongings were thrown onto the street."

Everything he owned, including his tax records and other documents, were either lost or stolen.

Mr Pokorowski ended up sleeping on the streets until he managed to get a place in a homeless shelter during the 2016 Christmas period.

The following year, he managed to find a permanent home and is now working again, the First-tier Tax Tribunal heard.

But, while he was down and out, he missed an April 2015 deadline for filing a tax return on his earnings that year.

And HMRC responded by hitting him with a series of fines which, by February 2017, totaled £1,600.

HMRC lawyers insisted there was nothing "special" about Mr Pokorowski and his homelessness was not "out of the ordinary run of events".

But Judge Aleksander said: "No reasonable HMRC officer, acting reasonably, could have reached this decision.

(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"Being homeless and having to sleep on the street has to to be something out of the ordinary run of events."

Mr Pokorowski may well have been suffering from mental health issues and that "should have been obvious" to HMRC, the judge added.

His homelessness amounted to "a particular difficulty or misfortune" that should have prompted HMRC to waive the fines.

The judge noted that, within three months of finding a permanent home, Mr Pokorowski got his affairs in order and filed the tax return.

He concluded: "I find that he had a reasonable excuse for his defaults and therefore allow his appeal."

An HMRC spokesperson said: “We are sorry that this case came to court and we apologise to Mr Pokorowski.

“We know that people often need additional help and support from us and we are committed to delivering that while being considerate and sensitive to individuals’ circumstances.”