Underpayment of Income Tax - Who is to blame?

Andy1962_2

I have also recieved a demand for unpaid tax on my RAF pension.

2008/09
2009/10 total £2500 ish

I have appealed twice under ESC A19 and have been rejected on both occasions, the only option now is to make an offical complaint.

There seems to be a lot of us in the same boat.

The annoying thing is they sent me a new tax code BR for 10/11 in Jan 10 but still failed to recover the right tax for my pension fron JAN -APR

HMRC seen to have lost the plot.

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush

Andy1962 wrote: »

I have appealed twice under ESC A19 and have been rejected on both occasions, the only option now is to make an offical complaint.

Or you could pay the damn tax. If an ESCA19 claim's been rejected twice, does it not enter your head that maybe it's not going to be accepted?

Why not appeal under ESCA19 a few more times? Hell, send 5 letters a day, they're bound to see you're serious and write the tax off.

Pennywise

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush wrote: »

Or you could pay the damn tax. If an ESCA19 claim's been rejected twice, does it not enter your head that maybe it's not going to be accepted?

Why not appeal under ESCA19 a few more times? Hell, send 5 letters a day, they're bound to see you're serious and write the tax off.

Or he may have just been unlucky to get hmrc staff with your "attitude". Given the sheer number of appeals that are successful after review or tribunal, it seems a lot of hmrc front line staff work to their own bias rather than the law and the taxpayer's charter.

flossy_splodge

Pennywise wrote: »

Or he may have just been unlucky to get hmrc staff with your "attitude". Given the sheer number of appeals that are successful after review or tribunal, it seems a lot of hmrc front line staff work to their own bias rather than the law and the taxpayer's charter.

Couldn't agree more.
I don't care what HMRC want to say to shift responsibility, the ordinary tax payer in this country has never been encouraged to get too knowledgeable about the 'system' as we are not encouraged to delve into other things.
Whilst I don't subscribe to conspiracy theory, I DO believe there has a developed an attitude of 'impose our rules, couch them in non user friendly terms and then we can say 'not our fault you didn't understand''. Actually, I think the business of communication is the responsibility of ALL who communicate!
Not a lot of point in a communication if it is not intended to inform/advise etc.
The current lousy standards in our schools means this problem is only going to get worse with people being intimidated by jargon and then embarrassed to admit their lack of understanding.
Has anyone else noticed our shift towards a dictatorship?
Can't then blame 'the people' if they have been actively encouraged to just do what they're told.
End of rant.:eek:
ps. I work in an accountancy practice and try to 'communicate' with the dreaded HMRC frequently. Not a fun experience, I can tell you. 'Attitude' is right!:o

chrismac1

My view of all of these Esc A19 appeals is similar to my view of the appeals process in general. Unless and until you reach someone who does not work for HMRC you cannot be sure you have dealt with someone who is both open-minded about your case and competent in their knowledge of the law - as opposed to HMRC's view of it.

The sheer number of really silly cases HMRC pursue all the way to the Tribunals and higher shows that all too often they lose the plot completely and are willing to waste shocking amounts of public funds in the process. IR35 cases alone are remarkable for the number of pretty hopeless cases brought by HMRC at massive cost to the taxpayer.

So I say the opposite to Gas powered Bogbrush. Appeal, appeal, complain, complain until you get a sensible response.

dori2o

Andy1962 wrote: »

I have also recieved a demand for unpaid tax on my RAF pension.

2008/09
2009/10 total £2500 ish

I have appealed twice under ESC A19 and have been rejected on both occasions, the only option now is to make an offical complaint.

There seems to be a lot of us in the same boat.

The annoying thing is they sent me a new tax code BR for 10/11 in Jan 10 but still failed to recover the right tax for my pension fron JAN -APR

HMRC seen to have lost the plot.

For what reason have they rejected the claim under ESC A19? It could be that HMRC have acted correctly and it is the pension provider who has not?

Please advise what the reason for not accepting the claim was.

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush

chrisspack1 wrote: »

So I say the opposite to Gas powered Bogbrush. Appeal, appeal, complain, complain until you get a sensible response.

To quote Albert Einstein:
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

Pennywise

Who is insane?

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush wrote: »

To quote Albert Einstein:
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

MimiJane wrote: »

Just an update to advise that I was recently SUCCESSFUL in getting my £700 under-payment written off by HMRC :j

It took four letters, including an appeal and finally a complaint, but I persisted and it paid off.

My success is largely due to Pennywise, who pointed me in the direction of the UK Business Tax Forum (many thanks Pennywise:beer:) and the wonderful assistance I received from the said forum.

The only downside is that I've now received another under-payment for 2010/11, but a much smaller amount ... although strangely just above the threshold to be automatically written off I gather I can't appeal this amount as they've advised me within their time-scales, but I can cope with this and it should now be the end of it.

flossy_splodge

Pennywise wrote: »

Who is insane?

would you be willing to post a link to this Forum, Pennywise for those of us who do not know of it?
If not, would you PM me with it?
thank you.

flossy_splodge

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush wrote: »

Or you could pay the damn tax. If an ESCA19 claim's been rejected twice, does it not enter your head that maybe it's not going to be accepted?

Why not appeal under ESCA19 a few more times? Hell, send 5 letters a day, they're bound to see you're serious and write the tax off.

I just love this post.
Are you serious that being rejected twice by ANY government linked set up should be reason to give up?
What a fascinating world you live in. Narnia is it?
In my experience, you have to fight HARD for your RIGHTS in this country because we employ idiots to do a responsible person's job and to hell with the stress and pain it causes to the humble man or woman on the street.
After all, they are just the victims, oops sorry, I meant customers.
Be REALLY nice if we COULD accept that a decision made was sound and equitable.
See that pink elephany flying by....:D