HMRC self assessment bill

shockwave123 · 17 October 2009 at 11:11AM

hi there, ok this is a little messy but i will try and explain as best as i can.
In 2000 i started up a small business with a princes trust loan.i never started trading and only paid myself £50 a week for max 3mnths.I was too young and inexperienced and ending up spending most of my money on customs bringing in clothes.i then got a job in holland and barrett part time. my mum died there was a fire in my flat and i moved back to the family home.i went a little off the rails and had alot on my plate.basically i was getting self assessments i didnt know the first place to start with them so i ignored them until 2008, i know it was stupid but it had been going on for such a long time and i was scared of the consequences.eventually i plucked up the courage went into the office and a tax adviser filled 8 tax returns in for me. i received letters breaking down the tax years and it worked out that from april 2001- 2008 i had overpaid £750 in tax.i then got a seperate letter stating that they didnt have any employment details or any other information from the year in question 2000-2001 and that i would be liable to pay income tax for their estimated income of £30,000.i have never in my life made that much money, even now i work fulltime and make £11,000.
I have tried writing to and emailing holland and barrett for employment details even using a template letter for data protection act but have never heard anything back.i have also appealed to HMRC stating my personal circumstances at the time and reasoning for not contacting them.
I am again ignoring this bill as i dont owe it but dont seem to have a way of proving i never made that amount of money, i dont know what to do.thanks for reading

fengirl_2 · 17 October 2009 at 2:19PM

The worse thing you can do it to ignore this demand because it wont go away. In order to overturn this demand, you need to self assess for the year the demand relates to - 2000-01. It sounds as if the Holland and Barrett earnings are all that you lack, but as employers are only required to retain wages records for 6 years, you are never going to get them. I would suggest that you self assess for the 2000--01 year giving your best estimate of the H&B pay, plus any self employed earnings you had.