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HMRC

Rob zombie

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Joined
Nov 30, 2018
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2,396
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Conwy
HNRC owe me £10,200. They've owed me this since April 2020. I've tried numerous times to get it refunded but their phoneline cuts off after 45mins in the queue. When I do get through and speak to a human they apologise profusely and almost seem on the brink of tears in sympathy at times. And then I get a generic letter a few days later telling me I paid the correct amount of tax for 2019-2020. The incorrect tax was in M01 2020. I think I'm about to explode. I don't expect an answer or a long list of all the pinball machines I could've had for that money. Just need to get it off my chest!

****ers!!
 
Not in the same league, but I've been trying make make a parcel force claim for some lost siderails (and other bits) since late last year. They send you round in circles and tell you the information in wrong, and close the claim without consent.

Makes you wonder why we all.pay for the extra insurance when they make it effectively impossible to claim it.
 
I used to work as an officer for HMRC and more then willing to help and give some advice

Either DM if you want to keep it private

What type of tax is it?

If it relates to earnings...

What tax year? 2019-20 or this year 2020-21?

Then are you PAYE or SA?
 
I got taxed the full whack on a redundancy payment. This normally gets refunded automatically when you start a new job apparently, but it hasn't in my case. The lady I spoke to the other day thinks my P45 may have been incorrect - I've never seen it so no idea if that's true or not. Just trying to get through to speak to anyone is an absolute nightmare. And then as soon as you think it's all sorted....the generic letter arrives. Three of those now!
 
I got taxed the full whack on a redundancy payment. This normally gets refunded automatically when you start a new job apparently, but it hasn't in my case. The lady I spoke to the other day thinks my P45 may have been incorrect - I've never seen it so no idea if that's true or not. Just trying to get through to speak to anyone is an absolute nightmare. And then as soon as you think it's all sorted....the generic letter arrives. Three of those now!
Not sure if the rules have changed of late, but you used to get £30k tax free.
 
Yep. The rules are still the same. When I do manage to speak to someone they agree I am owed £10K and then they pass it over to another department who send out a generic letter stating that I paid the correct amount of tax for the previous year. I'm just going round in circles. I can't even tell you how frustrating it is. 12 months of it!
 
It’s crazy.
How hard can it be?
£30k tax free and the rest gets added onto your income, so pay the appropriate tax on that. Would image that’s 40%.
Good old HMRC, quick to take, but not so quick to give back.
 
Might be worth dropping a quick line to your local MP.
even pre-pandemic HMRC waiting times were a joke. Seriously understaffed.
 
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I'm going to try a formal complaint now and see if that makes any difference. Cheers guys
 
but in the same tax year did you work and pay tax? The lower tax is only at the point of PAYE but if you go back to work and earn again then you can become liable for the money if you earn enough. Did you do tax return for that year?
 
but in the same tax year did you work and pay tax? The lower tax is only at the point of PAYE but if you go back to work and earn again then you can become liable for the money if you earn enough. Did you do tax return for that year?
I worked for my own company for 4 months after the redundancy but didn't take a salary, and then went full time for another company on PAYE. I can understand being taxed on the salary, holidays, bonus and pilon. But I shouldn't be taxed on the first £30k of the actual redundancy part. You're supposed to be able to claim that back before the end of the tax year too.
 
If you worked for your own company and made profit then you would have to pay corp tax surely
It’s complicated as I know when you work for yourself and paye too get yourself a good accountant it’s worth every penny
 
If you worked for your own company and made profit then you would have to pay corp tax surely
It’s complicated as I know when you work for yourself and paye too get yourself a good accountant it’s worth every penny
Yeah I definitely need to do that. The reason I didn't take a salary is because I really don't know what I'm doing with that stuff. I paid £5K VAT on that 4 month period but yes I probably need to sort out taking a dividend and paying corporation tax...but that's not due for another year.
 
Yep. I should definitely hire an accountant as I'm not 100% clued up on any of this. Pretty good at spending it though.
 
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I worked for my own company for 4 months after the redundancy but didn't take a salary, and then went full time for another company on PAYE. I can understand being taxed on the salary, holidays, bonus and pilon. But I shouldn't be taxed on the first £30k of the actual redundancy part. You're supposed to be able to claim that back before the end of the tax year too.

Yes that’s right - but just be certain on the rest of it you have paid enough tax because this looks like it will head to an inspector and they will check the full tax year (and potentially any other years).

I had to take a tax claim for my wife all the way to the special inspectors because of a date change in the law that was applied wrongly. And they did everything to avoid refunding a significant amount of money. They went back five years! But fortunately we prevailed - I now know more than any sane person should about tax law! [emoji3]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
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Yes that’s right - but just be certain on the rest of it you have paid enough tax because this looks like it will head to an inspector and they will check the full tax year (and potentially any other years).

I had to take a tax claim for my wife all the way to the special inspectors because of a date change in the law that was applied wrongly. And they did everything to avoid refunding a significant amount of money. They went back five years! But fortunately we prevailed - I now know more than any sane person should about tax law! [emoji3]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Yeah, I'm fully expecting that :) Hopefully they aren't doing house calls with covid.
 
@Rob zombie

I am an accountant. My experience is in corporate stuff not personal tax. I did my tax exams nearly 25 years ago.

Being an accountant, a "professional", is like being a "professional" footballer.

Goal keeper, defender, striker, winger, sweeper, bench warmer, past it ?

Once you know what position, is the guy Peter Schmeichel or a fat Sunday league keeper puffing on a fag during the game?

You need a recommendation from someone you trust.
 
Starting to make some sort of progress now. HMRC eventually had to officially follow up on the complaint and admitted they 'probably owe me some money'. Minimum £2500. Could be £10K though. But they won't pay me until I do a self assessment in case I have to pay them back. I won't.

...and then we discovered just how badly I didn't know what I was doing with VAT. Turns out I'd billed a client 0% tax as I didn't know who was liable for that and assumed it was me. Client was luckily very willing to be billed for that in retrospect, so massive relief there as it was over £5K. Also turns out the US stuff is zero rated. Pretty good outcome so far....touch wood.
 
Your client is generous!
but now a few quid with an accountant makes it all worth while.
 
The state of the tax system

Sole traders, well educated commercial folk, doing pretty basic transactional stuff end up making the rational decision to spend money with accountants.

I am a bloody accountant. It is quite common for accountants to pay other accountants to tend to their tax affairs and annual self assessment.

It did not used to be like this
 
Your client is generous!
If they are vat Registered then I guess it’s not that a big of a deal for them as it can be reclaimed. I think a smaller non VAT registered client would have had a very different reaction.
Working for a company that exported 90% of the stuff we made in the U.K. I used to dread our VAT audits.
 
If they are vat Registered then I guess it’s not that a big of a deal for them as it can be reclaimed. I think a smaller non VAT registered client would have had a very different reaction.
Working for a company that exported 90% of the stuff we made in the U.K. I used to dread our VAT audits.
Yeah I was totally expecting them just to say no, or at best ask me to send replacement invoices for the same amount after VAT deducted. But they bent over backwards and even fast tracked the payment to me. A very good client indeed. They will certainly be at the very top of my list for future work. Plus it was nice to work on a project that went on to win a couple of BAFTAs :)
 
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