Thousands of hard working freelancers have been caught out unwittingly by irregular practices of their trusted accountants - Christopher Lunn and Company. We the undersigned petition the Treasury Select Committee to intervene on our behalf for leniency in dealing with tax penalties and payments in relation to CLAC and the ongoing enquiries. In the midst of the toughest recession in living memory thousands of self employed people working in the already insecure entertainment business are being targeted by HMRC to pay for mistakes made by their tax agents. We have already paid fees in good faith to those 'qualified' to administer our tax affairs and paid taxes due over a number of years. We are now being required to pay more fees to have accounts redrawn and then pay subsequent additional taxes. We request this situation be acknowledged as an institutional failure and extenuating circumstances to be applied in regard to penalties and payment terms.