War veteran is to sue the MoD (From Gazette & Herald)

War veteran is to sue the MoD

A RETIRED war veteran living at Lastingham, near Pickering, intends to sue the Ministry of Defence for thousands of pounds in tax wrongly paid on his army disability pension for 42 years.

Major Richard Perkins, is one of a number of disabled veterans owed millions of pounds in tax charged.

Nine months after the Government minister with responsibility for war veterans, Lewis Moonie, said he would ensure that position was resolved "as quickly as possible" nothing has been done, said Major Perkins.

The 84-year-old man, who was mentioned in dispatches for his part in Operation Thursday, the 1944 Chindit operation behind Japanese lines in Burma, says his pension is only £50 more than his rent.

He retired from the Royal Leicestershire Regiment in 1959 after suffering a mental breakdown, which, following an appeal, was attributed to his service.

He won a long fight to have the tax money he paid on his invalidity pension given back to him, but he is still waiting for the cheque.

The MoD has said it cannot pay because of a complication in the rules.

But Major Perkins says the rules under the Income and Corporation Taxes Act, 1988, state clearly that income from disability pensioners "shall be exempt from tax".

"Suing the MoD is now the only way forward. I have waited so long for the money," he said.

Updated: 08:59 Wednesday, October 23, 2002