Tax underpayment £1700 and stolen identity

brownbabygirl

Hi,

I received a demand notice a few weeks ago saying I had underpayed tax as in 2009-2010 I worked more than 1 job and therefore paid too little. I called HMRC and explained I had not worked 2 jobs at any point. They wrote me a letter confirming where it was I was meant to have worked in addition to my existing employment. I replied in writing, as they had advised, confirming i had not been in any other employment. I suspect someone else had stolen my details and worked under my NI number! It seems the letter has made no difference to HMRC because last week, they have sent a new tax code for the coming year and my tax free allowance has been cut to make up for the underpayment:eek:. I am really annoyed at this. Whoever used my details seems to have stopped using it but I might still need to pay. What can I do about this?

Mikeyorks

brownbabygirl wrote: »

What can I do about this?

First of all consider the more likely scenario that an employer has submitted one of their employees details with the wrong NINO? Happens regularly and 'stolen identity' is simply a payroll not taking reasonable care i most instances.

Return the P2 (Coding Notice) to HMRC with a letter restating your case and enclosing your P60 for 09-10 (copy it first). If the 'additional' employer wasn't in your local area .... add that to the letter?

brownbabygirl

hi mikey, i am not sure i understand the scenario. it is actually 2 additional employers.
about 2 years ago, i received a tax coding notice for a job i do not work at. i called them up and explained the issue and they said they would make a note of it. clearly they have not and want to penalise me for it. thanks for the tip. i will look into it.

brownbabygirl

bumping in case anyone else has other suggestions pls

dori2o

How long ago did you write to HMRC, it's possible your letter has not yet been dealt with.

The most recent correspondence is likely to be dated about 28 days from when the original assessment was raised and is nothing at all to do with your letter to them.

As you have written to advise you have no knowledge of the 2 employers on the record HMRC will contact the employers direct and ask them to provide further details. This unfortunately can take time as HMRC need to wait for the employer to respond.

Unfortunately it is now a waiting game. You should however contact HMRC by telephone and ask for the underpayment to be stood over until this matter is resolved.

chrismac1

Give them 28 days to get their fingers out. Then raise a Complaint Case, that's one thing I can assure you which gets them to wake up! After that - if they are still being silly - it's the sort of story the local press, and even the national press possibly, will be interested in right now. Stories about how bad HMRC are are pretty topical.

Murdina

See what you can find out about the employers you did not work for by googling them. If it is clear for example that their address is miles away point this out to HMRC. Also point out what hours you worked - could you have actually done 2 or 3 jobs? I have had success with this line for a client.

I don't want to worry you but if they write to the employer to say did John Smith NINO XY123456 A work for you the employer will of course say yes! Since if someone has given your name and NINO they will know no different. Ask HMRC to check the address and other personal details that the employer holds for "you" - as the chances are the person using your details will not have bothered with those.