Keep getting tax fines

Kev-83

Hi

When I was in the Armed Forces I did a few hours courier work as self employed then gave it up. I paid the relevant tax using the form sent to me and called the Inland Rev to let them know I was no longer doing it. This was in 2002/3 I think. I have no records for it. Now, every year I keep getting a £100 fine for not filling out a self assessment tax return.

I have always been employed PAYE since I was 16, I am now 25. Do I have to pay these fines because now its upto about £600.

The inland revenue say they have no record of me calling to say I stopped doing the self employed job and have to pay the fines.

Any advice is welcome and is there anywhere I can go to get help filling in the forms. I am not the kind of person who keeps all my wage slips, etc. I have started doing that now though

System

If they say they have no record of you ceasing self-employment then that's why they have sent you a tax return to complete each year.

To make it all go away it is very simple. Complete the outstanding tax returns as required because unfortunately once the forms are issued you have to complete them. Since you were employed under PAYE in those years it's just a matter of completing the main body of the tax return plus an employment supplementary page for every employment. You should have a P45 or P60 for each of the employments you had. If you had any other taxable income such as JSA or investment income etc you would need to declare that too.

Try to get this done as quickly as possible to ensure you do not end up with a return for 2009/2010 too.

If you aren't confident completing the forms yourself then make an appointment at your local HMRC Enquiry centre and the staff there will help you.

emilyjayne_3

Agree with both of the above, also like to add -
A tax return can be sent to anyone in the country, you dont necessarily ever of had to be self employed to be asked to do one. But when you are, it is a legal obligation to fill it in & return it by 31st Oct(if paper copy)/31st Jan(if online).

Kev-83, fill the forms in using the info on your P60s, send them in & they'll show you owe no tax, so the fines will all be dropped.

Hope this helps x

Chinkle

Yes, as others have said HMRC can send you tax returns to complete for as long as they deem necessary. Ignoring them doesn't make them go away.

This happened to my OH, only the returns weren't even going to his current address. By the time they caught up with him he had a hell of a mess to sort out - luckily we found a good tax adviser.