Tax return

goofy115

Hi,
I'm in full time employment and for the first time today i've received a self assessment tax return for the year ending april 2004.(Well it was actually sent to my previous address from which i moved from in 1998 but that's beside the point).I know they've sent this form because i had a share scheme option at work (should have been tax free but because the company was bought out the scheme finished early therefore became taxable) which i took up and didn't declare it for the capital gains.Are there any regulations regarding how long back they can request your financial info? As you probably know they want to know salary,savings earnt,share schemes,tax paid etc for which i've got no idea.I haven't kept that info from this year nevermind 2 and half bloody years ago.Any advice?
Ps. I've got to return the form before the end of jan 2005 or i get hit with a fine plus interest.Gonna be struggling there.

Hoddie_2

Ask for a duplicate P60 from the employer, or request the details from the tax office. Ask the bank(s) for details of any investment income. Regards the share scheme, you'll also need those details.

If there's no extra liability due (ie it was all deducted at source in full), there will be no late return penalty or interest charges. If there is liability to pay, these will stand.

Well it was actually sent to my previous address from which i moved from in 1998 but that's beside the point.

Not everyone knows that they need to update the tax office with their new address. If a late return penalty is levied, the fact that you didn't receive the form in the first place may be grounds for appeal.

whatatwit

If you are going to struggle to get the form completed in time, tell the tax office what info you can and find the rest asap.

They may be more sympathetic if you keep them informed of what's happened.

whatatwit

If it's a form issued after it's usual date, you normally have 30 days to get it back.
Ring HMRC on Monday, put them in the picture and then follow up with confirmation in writing.

System

Normally the tax office can go back 6 years. That means the taxpayer can also ask them to go back 6 years if they think they might be due a rebate.

Regarding your address - The part of HMRC which deals with PAYE and Self Assessment uses whatever address you give them so if YOU don't tell them you have moved then they will send paperwork to the last address they had for you. Also just because the Tax Credit Office have your current address (if you claim tax credits) does not mean the rest of HMRC has it. The government, in their infinite wisdom, bought a computer system which is not linked to the other HMRC systems and the staff in the Tax Credit Office, in particular, do not have any access whatsoever to p60 details or information declared on a self assessment tax return. Apparently this is as much to do with Data Protection as anything else.

Hoddie_2

That's not strictly true Pam17 - if the Tax Credit office change your address, it is changed across all HM Revenue & Custom systems. Also, they do have access to P60 details (to check for fraud, etc) but still require that claimants submit a signed declaration - there are many reasons for this, mainly 1) Information held may be incorrect; 2) The renewal requires that 'other income' be declared (savings, etc), income that the tax office might not otherwise be aware of; and 3) P60 details may not be processed in time for the annual renewal.

goofy115

Thanx for all the advice

Mikeyorks

whatatwit wrote:

If it's a form issued after it's usual date, you normally have 30 days to get it back.
Ring HMRC on Monday, put them in the picture and then follow up with confirmation in writing.

Agree with contacting HMRC - but it's '3 months and 7 days' to get a return back that's issued after Oct in the appropriate year.