PAYE Blunder and Bereavement

minskerella

Hi, I'm hoping somebody can help me because I am really stuck! My father in law died in January and we are trying to sort out his estate. We have since received two tax bills for approx £3.5k each for 07/08 and 08/09. They are both due to the PAYE blunder and people being on the wrong codes. Do you think we can appeal these and what do you think our chances are? Obviously we will struggle to prove that he gave all the correct infomation as he is not here to defend himself (although I'm sure he did as he was a very organised, clever man). One says it's for a company car he had in 2007 and not enough high rate tax paid and the other says not enough high rate tax paid. He worked in railways via an agency. Many thanks.

hcb42

can the estate not pay the debt?

if the figures are correct, this is procedure. we had same scenario to deal with

minskerella

Yes we can pay the tax out of the estate when the house is sold, it's just I know a lot of people who were part of the blunder appealed it as they had provided the correct information at the time. We don't know if the figures are correct and what information he provided as he is not here to discuss it. Do you think it is best just to pay it and not bother with an appeal? Many thanks.

hcb42

well if the money is owed it needs to be paid..

you will have to do the best you can to determine if it is accurate or seems accurate i.e. what records have you in the house? I.e. what car did he have, does that tally up with the tax code applied etc. If you do not know how they have worked it out I would ask them. It is not uncommon at all for company car tax to lag behind earnings, been in that situation myself.

We sold my Dad's house over a year ago now, but we have kept some money back to determine if any tax owed in the final year as it were...sister has written to them, but they are notoriously slow. And obviously he hadnt done his tax return..

But we paid the prev years bills, as we know they were correct.
One thing is for sure, if it is due, it is due.

minskerella

Thanks for your help. We are happy to pay if it is due, it is just he was ill for a long time and we went through his affairs and he thought everything was in order. I know so many people have appealed them I wondered if we had a case. We have all his payslips etc so maybe I will write to them first and ask them for some more infomation.

SeniorSam

If death was in January, his PAYE code would have been set to deduct tax at the relate for the whole year and may have some refund due. It should not be too much of a problem to contact the employers and ask for details of his pay in those years and any additional benefits he received, such as the car.
If it's a large company, they may have a department to help employees, or their families to sort matters out?

Also, look at the other thread (A19 Tax blunder) about tax underpaid. If it was a fault of the employer, it may be that tax will be waived?

Sam

chrismac1

Anyone who assumes HMRC have got these calculations correct is an !!!, they get about 60% or more wrong in my experience. So no, you don't just cave in and get the estate to fork out, you treat this like any other potential Esc A19 claim:

1. Review the calculations.
2. If they are wrong, challenge them.
3. If they are right, consider whether your father acted reasonably, which I am willing to bet that he did.
4. Raise the Esc A19 claim.
5. Reply to the standard "fob off" letter in which nothing specific to your dad will be mentioned.
6. Reply to the second fob off letter.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you get a letter which looks like a human being was involved in writing it. Which will also probably be a cave in letter.

Keep going! For moral support, look up all the posts on here of people who've won on esc A19, it's getting to be a long list!

minskerella

Thank you very much for your clear helpful advice and supportive replies. I will start with getting all the information together and reviewing the calculations and go from there. We are concerned we might get a letter for 09/10 now too. Have they all gone out now or is this still possible?