Inland Revenue Lost My Return

garichd

Hi All,

I need guidance.

I sent my return in the month of september by recorded delivery.
I didn't heard any thing back from IR since the first week of january.

In the first week of januray I recived a letter from IR explaning a dead line of 31st january to pay TAX.

I called IR for this , they confirmed they recived my return in sep but didn't actioned it as yet and will give me a call back in couple of days with my tax calculated.

Never recived the call so called again today and get the News they are not able to find my return and want me to fill it again. :mad:

now what should I do as filling a return again is not easy task.

gari...

sarahlouise210

Sadly ..if your tax return had not been mislaid it would have been dealt with by now! It is a real pain in the neck, but these things do happen with the number of return received.
At the end of the day . HMRC will not be able to del with your return without the information - there is no way round it you will have to fill it in again. You can go to an Inland Revenue tax enquiry centre and ask for help to fill in your return again - they wil have one there that you can complete. If you were expecting to have some tax to pay - pay the amount by 31st January. If you were hoping to have any tax collected through your tax code it will now be too late - you should negotiate with HMRC over this as your return was in in good time to enable you to have any underpayment coded. You could ask for some compensation as well .. if you dont ask ......

garichd

Thanks for your reply sarah..

Actully I overpaid Tax and expecting to get it back.

sarahlouise210 wrote:

You could ask for some compensation as well .. if you dont ask ......

what's the procedure for this. ?

gari..

ctm_2

This is why you should always keep a copy!

Anyway, you will have to fill in another one unfortunately. Hopefully ayou still have all your paperwork etc from when you filled the original one it. If you go to your local office that has an enquiry centre they will be able to help you complete it again, or at least give you another blank one to fill in. You may have to make an appointment though.

If you are sure that you have overpaid, then you don't have anything else to worry about. If you know that you owe HMRC money, then you should still make payment before 31 january so you don't get charged interest.

sarahlouise210

garichd wrote:

Thanks for your reply sarah..

Actully I overpaid Tax and expecting to get it back.



what's the procedure for this. ?

gari..

woops ! ..pressed thanks by mistake ....anyway.......
Just write to them, explain that you submitted your tax return in good time using recorded delivery and were expecting to receive a refund of tax. Had HMRC dealt with your tax return in a timely manner you would have received that tax refund and received interest on it when you paid it into the bank. Also mention the telephone calls you have made regarding the matter and the general distress caused by the worry that your return has been lost by HMRC..also the additional time taken to complete the tax return. Address your letter to the complaints department

WHA

I agree with SarahLouise - just write in and make a complaint, outlining all the facts.

This happens a lot - it is a very easy way out for them just to ask you to do it again, - it is the standard reply when a clerical assistant can't find something and can't be bothered to look properly!

If you escalate it to a higher level, i.e. the customer services manager or complaints department, it will be actioned properly and someone will have to have a proper look around for it. Chances are that it is in someone's in-tray or fallen behind someone's desk - it happens all the time!

As a practising accountant, I make it clear that I will charge the Inland Revenue for replacing documents that they have lost and insist on them giving me written confirmation that they will pay my bill. About 95% of the time, surprise surprise, they find the documents that they've lost!!!

If I were you, I would do likewise, in your complaint, make it clear that doing another return will take your valuable time and tell them how much compensation you want for your time, telephone calls, and postage, not to mention compensation for interest that you've lost because you didn't get your refund earlier.

4nick8

Mention you will be taking the matter up with your MP. For a lightning fast response send a copy c/o 11 Downing St.

Make sure you put your reference number on the letter.