Can I take my tax office to Small Claims Court?

Rob001_2

Hi,

I'm currently owed a fairly large refund on overpaid tax, but HMRC is refusing to tell me if my claim (posted at the end of March) has even been received yet. They insist there's no chance it'll even be looked at until 'at least the end of June' due to delays caused by their new computer system, and they say they won't be able to tell me anything more until then.

So while I'm struggling to make ends meet, a large amount of my money is sitting in HMRC's bank account earning them interest! Can they really be this grossly incompetent, or are they being deliberately obtuse and ineffectual in order to delay and earn as much interest as possible from money they should be refunding?

Technically speaking, can I actually take my tax office and HMRC to the Small Claims Court? I've had success with small claims against retailers before, and it would be nice to know what legal recourse (if any) I have against a disinterested and wilfully incompetent taxman.

Thanks,
Rob.

NiceGuyEddie_2

Are you kidding?

If you sent it at the end of March then no, you wouldn't have heard anything yet. The end of June does sound unreasonably late however, and I'd be giving them a weekly phonecall to chase.

Whilst I can appreciate that you need the overpayment refunded asap, the argument that they are intentionally withholding the money in order to earn interest doesn't really wash; quite aside from the low interest rates, tax revenue gets used!

One key thing that you can do now however is to look at why you had such a large overpayment and ensure you minimise the likelihood of it happening again, as far as is possible

Tis

In my experience they are totally incompetent but I think you are also being a little unreasonable. It's only a month since you applied for the refund and they will have a lot of others to plough through in addition to yours. I have usually found it's close to six months before you get a refund and if then you'll probably have to chase it. Be prepared that you'll never speak to the same person twice - they operate call centres.

fengirl_2

I agree with Eddie, look at why you have such a large overpayment - being in this position is not Moneysaving!
If you are in serious financial hardship, you could contact the Customer Service Manager for your region and put the case to them for your claim to be prioritised - but as others have said, you are in the same boat as thousands of others.

Nosht

The only person that will take your complaint on board would be the ombudsman, or maybe your M.P.
Not possible to sue the Crown.

N.

Rob001_2

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I've calmed down a bit now, although I'm still infuriated by the tax office's attitude, which seems to be that it can treat its 'customers' however the hell it likes. It's especially annoying since I was aware of the overpayment at the time, but typical tax office inefficiencies made it impossible to prevent. They don't seem able to do anything efficiently, except of course collect our money.

Incidentally, since the Crown Proceedings Act of 1947 it is perfectly possible to sue the Crown in contract or for the restitution of property by ordinary process and under the normal rules of court. The Crown is liable in tort as if it were a normal litigant, and a normal action can be begun in either the High Court or county court against government departments as appropriate.

Obviously I'm not seriously considering any legal action though; I was just annoyed by their dismissive attitude and am still wondering if there is some kind of strange immunity from normal liability that explains it. The government certainly isn't above inserting sneaky clauses to make itself exempt from parts of legislation. If the boot was on the other foot and I owed the taxman money, I certainly wouldn't be permitted to set my own protracted schedule for dealing with the issue.

The wait wouldn't be so bad if they'd seemed the least bit apologetic, or even embarrassed by their own gross incompetence. Going by their own stated schedule, it will be a total of three months before they even begin looking at my claim! It just seems rather unfair, which is always annoying.

Chinkle

Trouble is this time of year, everyone who thinks they are due a refund is submitting claims. Not what you want to hear but unfortunately the tax office wheels do grind very slowly at the best of times.

RayWolfe

Chinkle wrote: »

Trouble is this time of year, everyone who thinks they are due a refund is submitting claims. Not what you want to hear but unfortunately the tax office wheels do grind very slowly at the best of times.

....... and certain politicians and their followers believe that this sort of "back office functions" can be slashed and burned.

suso

Rob001 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm currently owed a fairly large refund on overpaid tax, but HMRC is refusing to tell me if my claim (posted at the end of March) has even been received yet. They insist there's no chance it'll even be looked at until 'at least the end of June' due to delays caused by their new computer system, and they say they won't be able to tell me anything more until then.

what did you send in as evidence of overpaid tax?

System

Unfortunately you will have to wait until June. There genuinely is a technical problem with the new computer sytem which is delaying some types of claims and they are being stockpiled until a fix is in place. It's not a case of staff being incompetant or ineffectual it's just another case of the government purchasing yet another computer system which was not fit for purpose when it was introduced too early (think tax credits and the CSA).

The staff who work these claims are not computer programmers and are certainly not paid enough for the public to expect them to be. I know there's the saying a bad workman always blames his tools but in this case the tool is still throwing up problems nearly a year after it was introduced.

trevormax

Pam17 wrote: »

Unfortunately you will have to wait until June. There genuinely is a technical problem with the new computer sytem which is delaying some types of claims and they are being stockpiled until a fix is in place. It's not a case of staff being incompetant or ineffectual it's just another case of the government purchasing yet another computer system which was not fit for purpose when it was introduced too early (think tax credits and the CSA).

The staff who work these claims are not computer programmers and are certainly not paid enough for the public to expect them to be. I know there's the saying a bad workman always blames his tools but in this case the tool is still throwing up problems nearly a year after it was introduced.

The funny think is these new computer systems were in planning and development stages for five years. They kept putting the release date back 6 months when they found something wrong. Even more funny was that the old system (cop), although quite old, did the job nicely. If it aint broke, dont try to fix it.