Not my words, but those of a man whose life has been torn apart by the loan charge, a scandal which has brought misery to thousands of law-abiding people who acted on professional advice and had no desire to avoid their responsibilities as taxpayers.

Those affected by the charge include health professionals, who will probably be on the front line in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

The scale and complexity of the problems facing those caught up in the loan charge was outlined by David Davis MP in a House of Commons debate.

The loan charge is an anti-avoidance measure introduced in the 2016 Budget to address tax loss from what the Treasury called a variety of “disguised remuneration” schemes.

Mr Davis said many court cases had been unable to decipher the rules surrounding the schemes, adding: “So if the judges can’t understand it, what chance ordinary laymen? People who cannot afford to employ an accountant.

“We’re not talking about city slickers here or international bankers, we’re talking about locum nurses, social workers, care workers and hospital cleaners.”

Mr Davis said: “These people are now suffering because of a history of poorly drafted regulation and legislation and poor management at HMRC targeted on the wrong people.”

He said instead of chasing individuals HMRC should be going after the advisers who pushed the schemes.

There is overwhelming evidence that the vast majority of people affected by the loan charge were not sophisticated tax dodgers. Far from it.

To quote a report compiled by the Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group: “These arrangements were not entered as aggressive tax avoidance and were often a condition of employment, especially in the public sector.

“A substantial number of people however, especially in the public sector, did not know or understand that their pay arrangements involved loans.”

A review, led by Sir Amyas Morse, confirmed the schemes were a form of tax avoidance but made a series of recommendations about the design of the charge and its impact on those in its scope.

Many people are demanding that the promoters of these schemes must be forced to face the consequences of their actions.

They include a businessman who told me: : “I used the schemes from 2010 to 2015; because HMRC opened enquiries and did nothing about them in all those years, the loan charge review leaves me in exactly the same position as I was in before the review.

“The expectation of HMRC for me to settle without the loan charge applying is greater than £70,000 plus ongoing interest for any repayment schedule.”

The man said that there was no accounting for the 18 per cent of invoice value that was taken by the scheme provider.

At the very least, he believes this should be clawed back from the scheme’s directors and offset against any settlement.

He added: “Even that allows for retrospective claw-back but at least the scheme providers would have been dealt with too.”

Speaking in the Commons, Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jesse Norman said: “I want to put on record again that I and my colleagues recognise the strength of feelings involved, as I’ve said, and very much sympathise with those who may be subject to the charge.”

But he said the schemes discussed were “contrived tax avoidance in which people were paid in the form of loans with no interest and no intention or requirement to pay the loan back”.

HMRC has launched a call for evidence, as part of an initiative to raise standards among those who provide tax advice and services.

Actions against the promoters of these schemes - whose “reprehensible” behaviour was slammed by Sir Amyas Morse - is long overdue.

But what about the locum nurses and health professionals who, as Mr Davis observed, are facing the loan charge?

Surely there is a case for lifting the financial burden from them, as we prepare for the biggest crisis the country has faced in peace time?

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We must remember the nurses and care workers who have been hit by the loan charge - Greg Wright