Self Assessment forms - beware!

wonderfulsometimes

Hi

I dutifully filled in my SA form at the beginning of this year.

After all the calculations had been performed by the Inland Revenue's online calculator, it appeared that a sum of around £23 would be owed to me.

This being a minor amount, I elected to tick the box that allowed the IR to send my credit payment to a charity of my choice. Simple!

Or not. I then received a letter to say that the sum I had elected to send to charity was in excess of £500, because I had not claimed previous back payments and credit. Of course, the IR do not tell you when you are in credit, they simply ask if you want to claim.

Now, the money has gone to the charity, and the IR HAS NO PROCEDURE for getting it back!

The staff at the charity have been completely understanding, as , I must say, have staff at the IR, and I am sure that in time this problem will be sorted out.

But BEWARE do not tick this box without checking how much will be sent.

System

An unfortunate lesson but surely you have copies of all the statements sent to you by the IR when you have previously submitted tax returns which would have shown that you were in credit?