Refund Help Please

andyt88

Hi everyone. I am new to the site. I am a Automotive Technician/Mechanic.

I received this letter today, it read:-

Refunds Direct Ltd

H.M. Revenue And Customs Agent M8972R

You spend huge amounts of money on your tools.
You spend this money in order to do your job.
You know its very difficult to claim a tax refund against these costs.

THIS IS NOT FAIR

We have pointed out to the Revenue this money is spent in order to work.

You should have the same rights as the self employed and and businesses.

WE ARE NOW IN A POSITION TO HELP YOU OBTAIN YOUR RICHLY DESERVED TAX REFUNDS

1. Do you want a refund?
2. Have you spent more than £2000 on tools?
3. Have you got the receipts?

WE CAN GO BACK 10 YEARS. THERE IS NO UPPER LIMIT

AVERAGE REFUNDS ARE OVER £800

You will notice, we are licensed by the Revenue to do this work, so you can deal with us with confidence. There is no upfront charge to you. Our fee is 30% of the refund obtained.

If you have the receipts call me on 0800 622 6051 the money is there, all you have to do is ask us to claim it. Claims made in next few days will be paid by Christmas.

They have a professional looking website and the person I spoke to on the phone sounded very honest carrying a very strong sales pitch.

Does this sound legitimate? Is this something i could just do myself? He is asking me for my P60 along with receipts for tools, should i trust this?

Thanks,

Andy

BoGoF

First of all no agent is 'licensed' by HMRC, the fact they have an agent code means nothing - that is really for internal HMRC purposes.

Secondly, they cannot go back 10 years, only 6.

Thirdly why give them 30% of any refund you are entitled to.

Penny_Rich

When i first saw this i thought it was a scam. I googled it and it would appear to be a proper business set up, although i don't think much of their business methods.

To confirm Bogof's comments, HMRC only go back 6 years for repts, not 10, and the agent ref is just a registration number they have with HMRC, nothing more.

If you want to have your tax affairs reviewed, you can either go to your local HMRC office and have them reviewed for free, or you can pay a professional advisor to check for you. If you chose the professional adviser route, choose someone regsitered with the Chartered Institute of Tax.

I have to say this letter is misleading to say the least, and If i received it i would probably refer it on to my local trading standards authority.

One word of warning. There is a scam going on with emails purporting to be from HMRC, and saying that you are due a refund and can they have your bank details to pay the refund into. DO NOT respond to this - it will be a scam.!!

Penny_Rich

I just had another look at the various websites for this organisation. It looks like there are various franchises, targeting certain groups for possible refunds, including the motor trade. There is a section for recruiting new agents, saying no experience necessary. For those of us who have damn near sweated blood doing our exams, and building up a wealth of knowledge and experience over the years, its enough to drive us to drink!! And on that sulky note, i'm off to bed!!! Grrrr!!!

Chinkle

These people are just exploiting the fact that many people don't claim all their tax allowances and people think dealing with the tax system is too complicated, by pointing this out they hope to cream off some of your entitlement.

It sounds as though you are an employee or you would just claim for your tools on your tax return. If your employer makes you pay for your own tools, by all means talk to your tax office, that way you will get back 100% of what you are entitled to not 70%