How "friendly" are HMRC when it comes to settling tax-debts in installments

judywoody

notatvstar wrote: »

Sometimes life doesn't work out the way we think it would. I had more than enough to pay my tax (at least 3 times over!), but two family bereavements and a family bailout scenario has wiped me out somewhat. It's going to be harsh, but at least I'm not losing my job (... sorry to hear about that judywoody) and as much as this issue is cut-and-dry (i.e. yes - the money has been earned, so the tax must be paid) surely there's some room in people for a little bit of sympathy (not for me, for judy). I think constructive ADVICE about negotiating with HMRC instead of a 'awwwwww poor you' was what the OP was after.

My dealings with the HMRC have always been rather decent! perhaps I've been lucky (... runs off to touch wood), and I'm surprised that they're not willing to negotiate.

Judy - have you gone to a tax advisory office or even a CAB who does tax issues to ask for advice. I think there's some charities as well that may be able to help such as Taxaid.

I wish you the best of luck. Apologies for the 'beans on toast' quip. I didn't mean to make light of your s(h)ituation.

Thanks for that :-) I liked the beans on toast statement, though ..haha

I might go and see the CAB but not sure if they can tell me anything else than I already know? I'll just have to bite the bullet. Not sure if I'll lose me job but if I do they'll just have to be happy with what they get - As long as I pay regularly they can't really complain - they might have to pass it on but it won't make me pay quicker..lol

chrismac1

In my view, don't post on a forum called "Cutting Tax" unless your post is either about how you can get the most out of the tax system, or offering advice to someone in that position. Moving on, the OP has made a good case in this thread in my view. Write it down, get it clear in your ming, call the Time To Pay people and fingers crossed you get someone decent. If you don't, bear in mind that there is a higher authority than HMRC, one which has given HMRC some bad knocks in 2011.

When it comes to hoping for commonsense from HMRC I treat any such commonsense as an unexpected and welcome bonus. HMRC is often prepared to spend over £1m of taxpayers' money on multi-year cases in which £50k to £100k was the maximum tax take they could expect. So please hope for a decision based on commercial logic but be prepared for exactly the opposite. Keep your temper, don't take it personally and stand up robustly but politley to any bullying tactics mentioning bailiffs and the like. You are a long way from that!

judywoody

Thanks for your help chris. I will see what I can do - I am pretty sure that HMRC's calculations are correct, my tax return is quite straight forward, basic income and expenses. Nothing fancy..Just forgot about NIC4 to be honest...doh!!!

funscott

I think my view of HMRC is the same. sometimes i think i would have been better off not registering. seems they are only interested in taking as much money as possible of people who bother to be respectable.


My issue was i mucked up my 2009 tax return (never filled a tax form in before) as I pay tax through my main job on PAYE. so i under paid tax by £2000 (hands up im guilty) so when mr tax man came along enquiring about my return i came clean that i had made a few errors (when they pointed it out) and would be happy to provide anything they want to fix the problem. after a few letters back n forth (bank statments / spreadsheets etc) they came back with the workings that i was due £2200 i dont mind paying a fine / interest on the money due but i do mind them wanting to charge me upto a 100% fine.

this is a second job (ebay) i dont earn huge amounts and im not going to solve the debt issue of britain with my tax but they do seem to be going out against the small self employed people to screw them over. thats why I am givign up my ebay business as a 28% tax on a second income isnt really worth the effort anymore. why should i pay 8% NI when I pay 12% already on my main job yet receive no benifits for it.

stock cost - tax@20%, NI@8% and postage cost = not worth the effort anymore.


oh and they want payment within 30 days then they will tell me my fine.

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush

funscott wrote: »

why should i pay 8% NI when I pay 12% already on my main job yet receive no benifits for it.

Because you're still receiving the income. If you earned an extra 10k at your job you'd pay NI on it, why should your self employed income be exempt?

chrismac1

It is practically their stated policy to screw small business people. The very same day HMRC announced an extra 150 staff to pursue small businesses for poor record keeping - ha! that's good coming from HMRC - they tossed their hand in on a Vodafone case worth potentially £5bn.

Call me cynical - and the HMRC folks on here will - but I wonder if Vodafone's ace tax accountants and lawyers had anything to do with that decision?

Anyway, funscott, as a matter of principle I would never let the tax tail wag the dog. Plus HMRC are a shambles right now and with a bit of knowledge and determination it's not that hard to give them complete runaround. In your case, you almost certainly have not claimed all the expenses you potentially can claim, which would reduce your tax and NI accordingly.

judywoody

Almost a year down the line I am now overdue on my tax ..funnily enough, they don't seem to be too bothered. I made a settlement plan with them but then my hours dropped again and my new job took 3 months to start (CRB check, First Aid course, forms getting lost in the post..)..now my freelance work is recovering but I have to pick up the pieces...

I rang up today and they love making you feel guilty, I should have saved up for tax ..yadel yadel..as if I didn't know that myself. But if your husband doesn't have a job and doesn't get any benefits and you lose his tax-free allowance while you have to pay the bills and pay tax in full then it's not as easy as they make it out to be..

Over a month ago they told me that I just have to wait now for the letter from the debt collection agency - still haven't got a letter. They lady today was urging me to pay in full - I know it's just her job but what does she think I should be doing? Renting out my husband for some extra cash??? This September will be the last bad month and then I can start paying more again - Which I will defo do PLUS any tax that will accumulate - fortunately my hubby is back in work again now as well.

She also started telling me how all that can lead to bankruptcy - but I know it takes ages for that to happen and only if I don't pay at all. I hope I can come to an agreement with the debt collection agency..argh!!!

antonic

judywoody wrote: »

Almost a year down the line I am now overdue on my tax ..funnily enough, they don't seem to be too bothered. I made a settlement plan with them but then my hours dropped again and my new job took 3 months to start (CRB check, First Aid course, forms getting lost in the post..)..now my freelance work is recovering but I have to pick up the pieces...

I rang up today and they love making you feel guilty, I should have saved up for tax ..yadel yadel..as if I didn't know that myself. But if your husband doesn't have a job and doesn't get any benefits and you lose his tax-free allowance while you have to pay the bills and pay tax in full then it's not as easy as they make it out to be..

Over a month ago they told me that I just have to wait now for the letter from the debt collection agency - still haven't got a letter. They lady today was urging me to pay in full - I know it's just her job but what does she think I should be doing? Renting out my husband for some extra cash??? This September will be the last bad month and then I can start paying more again - Which I will defo do PLUS any tax that will accumulate - fortunately my hubby is back in work again now as well.

She also started telling me how all that can lead to bankruptcy - but I know it takes ages for that to happen and only if I don't pay at all. I hope I can come to an agreement with the debt collection agency..argh!!!

The way it works is
1) They reject the time to pay request
2) The debt is then passed to Field Force for someone to visit you.
3) Said person visits you and if you make an acceptable offer to them they have the power to accept, if they dont then
4) They ascertain if you have sufficient assets to pay the debt & HMRC costs (note if goods are levied and sold at auction the sale price will bear no resemblance to the cost price and you will still be liable for any shortfall).
5) If you have insufficient assets then its a choice between County Court Proceedings or Bankruptcy, and the agent makes the decision.

Just because they are threatening enforcement proceedings it doesn't necessarily mean they will happen.

Hope this helps.

judywoody

antonic wrote: »

The way it works is
1) They reject the time to pay request
2) The debt is then passed to Field Force for someone to visit you.
3) Said person visits you and if you make an acceptable offer to them they have the power to accept, if they dont then
4) They ascertain if you have sufficient assets to pay the debt & HMRC costs (note if goods are levied and sold at auction the sale price will bear no resemblance to the cost price and you will still be liable for any shortfall).
5) If you have insufficient assets then its a choice between County Court Proceedings or Bankruptcy, and the agent makes the decision.

Just because they are threatening enforcement proceedings it doesn't necessarily mean they will happen.

Hope this helps.

Oh well then..there are not assets at all - not even a car...guess they will have to be patient then :-)

Savvy_Sue

judywoody wrote: »

This September will be the last bad month and then I can start paying more again

Just to say that IMO if you had a formalised agreement of any kind and you've had to miss any payments within that, your first priority should be getting your agreement back on track.

Once you've done that, my suggestion would be that you don't overpay at that point: stick to the agreement and anything you've got 'spare' should be put into the best savings account you can find ready for the day you CAN'T make the regular payment.

However, the professionals may disagree: my experience is from rent arrears with a Housing Association. If a tenant made an agreement and kept to it, it wouldn't go to court. If a tenant made an agreement and did NOT keep to it, it could and would go to court, even if some overpayments had been made. the crucial thing was to pay the AGREED amount, on time, every single month ...