Get a letter each year but no Self Assessement ?

Bewbie

Hi,

I am a higher rate PAYE employee but every year I get a letter from HMRC saying that they have not heard from me in a while and they want to make sure I am not paying too much or too letter tax.

Each year I have called them and they have said ok, just wanted to check, even though it does not actually ask me to call them.

I did not bother calling them last year will they now send me a full self assessment. I am now thinking I should have called them as reading various posts it sounds like its a nightmare to get out of once your in the system.

Does any one else get this letter every year ?, if you do, do you call them every year or do you not bother and have they then sent you a Full assessment.

Many Thanks in advance for any one who replies with their advice.

trevormax

Are you sure it is a self assessment letter? It sounds to me like a P92 or P91 which is basically trying to figure our what employment/JSA etc you have had recently. Do you change jobs often?

If as you say you are on PAYE and you do not receive too much untaxed income or you are not a director of a company they would not normally send you SA letters from my experience.

Bewbie

Hi Trevor, Thanks for replying

I became a higher rate tax payer in 2006 and thats when the letters started. I have never been unemployed and have only had 2 jobs in the last 9 years. I had been employed at the same place for nearly 7 years before I finally reached the 40% bracket. I then left in 2007 and got a new job and I still got the same letter last year.

I dont know if I am being singled out for any reason as they always ask me the same questions and then say ok thank you we dont need any thing from you.

I did not call them last year wondering if its too late now to call them.

Does any one else out there get these letters ?

Thanks

BoGoF

This is a standard letter issued to people who are higher rate taxpayers and are not issued with a Tax Return or a Tax Review form. It's just a reminder that should you be receiving, for example, investment income (interest or dividends) that you need to notify the tax office.

Mikeyorks

Agree with post #4. I've had the odd one in the past ..... after they kicked me out of SA because I was 'simple'!

You don't need to 'phone them ..... and they won't enrol you in SA just because you don't contact them. In fact if they decided they did need more info they would just as likely issue a P810 (simple single page Return) if you're solely PAYE.

ukric

I expect that it probably is a P810 you've recd.

PlutoinCapricorn

I have only just seen this post!

I used to get these letters, I could not understand why as I was filing my self-assesment returns each year. Eventually I realied that it was because I had left employment for self employment, so my P45 was outstanding. I could not give it to a new employer because I did not have one.

I phoned to check that this was the explanation, and sent off my copy of the P45 with a covering letter saying that I would only ever be self-employed in future. They replied to say that I would not get any more requests for information about my employment.

For some reason, they are not sure of your current status and as it says on the tin, they just want to see if you are paying too much/not enough tax and that they have all your information.

Tarasam

Its not a P810, P91 or P92, Its exactly as BOGOF states, we call it a HRLetter and it specifically aimed at people who are Higher rate but dont appear to need to complete a tax return. If theres no changes to your circs then theres no need to contact HMRC

ScarletBea

Does this mean that if I don't hear from them I shouldn't call?

2008/09 was my first full working year in england and I'm a high-rate tax payer. I haven't received anything and I was wondering if I should call them.
I made some calcs, and the extra 20% on my savings that I should pay is about £100 - will they bother about it?

I think they do know about me because in my first year they'd forgotten to deduct the benefit of my company car and I called them to let them know. Then then changed my tax code a couple of times until they got it right (and I'm still in a weird one this year to pay back the £20 that were remaining from 2008/09 :rolleyes:)

AirlieBird

ScarletBea wrote: »

Does this mean that if I don't hear from them I shouldn't call?

2008/09 was my first full working year in england and I'm a high-rate tax payer. I haven't received anything and I was wondering if I should call them.
I made some calcs, and the extra 20% on my savings that I should pay is about £100 - will they bother about it?

You need to call them to tell them about your savings. They will collect the additional tax through PAYE by amending your tax code.

ScarletBea

AirlieBird wrote: »

You need to call them to tell them about your savings. They will collect the additional tax through PAYE by amending your tax code.

But that's silly, they don't know how much it's going to be this year... or do you mean that I will calculate exactly how much extra I have to pay and they'll split that over 9 months (the remaining of this year, since it's too late to correct it for the June payroll)?

That just seems like a very convoluted way of doing stuff, I'd rather just pay it out and not have my monthly income reduced - but I guess it's welcome to the english tax system...

And anyway, all high-rate tax payers have savings, so why don't they just send the self-assessment papers to everybody instead of having to deal with individual communications? It'd be much easier for them.