HMRC and the Tax Adjudicator just cover each others A**es.

mart.vader

Hi All,

Back in 2010, HMRC told me I owed £600ish, although earlier the same year they told me, at least three times, "You have nothing to pay".

I asked them to tell me how I owed this money, as for two of the three years that they said I had underpaid, I had earned less than the personal tax allowance.

They didn't answer for a while, then said, as I had not kept up with the payment plan they put me on (although I did not agree to be on the plan), that they would start Distraint proceedings against me, which would start the following week. (Distraint is when they take your possessions and sell them at Public Auction.)

I asked them to put the Distraint on hold while they answered my questions, and to explain how I owed tax for years when I earned less than the tax threshold, and had paid tax for those years. They then lost all the correspondence and asked me to send it to them.

They then found that I had overpaid, by £300ish, which they refunded. I disagreed with their figures. They then refunded another £180. When I again disagreed with their figures, they refunded another £10. All of this totalled around £500ish

I made formal complaints, HMRC investigated, but said that they can't see that they made any errors or caused any unnecessary delays. They asked me to agree that they had carried out a fair investigation into the handling of my tax account. (Ha Ha)

I made a Formal complaint to the Tax Adjudicator. The Adjudicator (Ms Judy Clements OBE ) has now replied (it's only taken her a year) and said that she also cannot see that HMRC have made any mistakes, except a minor one, and has awarded me (fanfare of trumpets, please) the sum of £30 for the minor mistake. I spent hours writing to them (I think 17 letters) and online trying to understand the mistakes on my account.

There is no doubt that HMRC were threatening Distraint, when I owed them no money and in fact they owed me money, but somehow HMRC and the Adjudicator are completely blind to this.

As the Adjudicator has ruled; that is the end of the complaints procedure. I can't complain any further. She acknowledges that I may have felt distressed when they were threatening Distraint, but unfortunately "HMRC only award compensation for distress in exceptional circumstances" She has advised that if I'm not satisfied, I can ask an MP to refer it to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

My advice for anyone with tax problems is - Don't bother complaining to HMRC, it's a fix, and a waste of time and postage stamps.

As a poster on this forum says "It's not a Tax system - it's a National Disgrace"

Cook_County

So ... I think you are saying that you wre due at least one refund but you did not seek to claim this until HMRC troubled you. Why not? Why should the rest of society pay compensation to you for the dilatory way that you manage your tax affairs?

CKhalvashi

Cook_County wrote: »

So ... I think you are saying that you wre due at least one refund but you did not seek to claim this until HMRC troubled you. Why not? Why should the rest of society pay compensation to you for the dilatory way that you manage your tax affairs?

I've overpaid for 3 years in the last 4, and they picked up on certain things to say this when they went through the books last year that my accountant hadn't picked up on.

The UK government had nearly £40,000 of my money, interest free for 4 years. Although I think that £30 is reasonable 'interest', I don't see why compensation should be paid, when we have to pay an accountant for each hour whilst HMRC are in!

CK

mart.vader

Cook_County wrote: »

So ... I think you are saying that you wre due at least one refund but you did not seek to claim this until HMRC troubled you. Why not? Why should the rest of society pay compensation to you for the dilatory way that you manage your tax affairs?

I suppose it was too much to expect a sensible response.

HMRC threatened to remove my possessions and sell them, although I did not owe them any money. THEY OWED ME MONEY. Now do you understand?

If HMRC don't know that they have my money, with the dedicated computer systems they have, they should not be responsible for collecting tax. They should accept when they have made mistakes, not pretend that they can't see it.

mart.vader

CKhalvashi wrote: »

I've overpaid for 3 years in the last 4, and they picked up on certain things to say this when they went through the books last year that my accountant hadn't picked up on.

The UK government had nearly £40,000 of my money, interest free for 4 years. Although I think that £30 is reasonable 'interest', I don't see why compensation should be paid, when we have to pay an accountant for each hour whilst HMRC are in!

CK

I haven't a clue what you're talking about, and I don't think you have either.

It wasn't "interest" - it was compensation for HMRC's minor mistake. Although, strangely, when they threatened me with Distraint, I did not owe them any money, they owed it to me, but for some reason they and the Adjudicator don't see this as a mistake at all. (And obviously neither do you - clearly you attended the HMRC's college for lessons in common sense)

I don't need an accountant, I am not a company, just an individual, with one pension and one income.

CKhalvashi

mart.vader wrote: »

I haven't a clue what you're talking about, and I don't think you have either.

It wasn't "interest" - it was compensation for HMRC's minor mistake. Although, strangely, when they threatened me with Distraint, I did not owe them any money, they owed it to me, but for some reason they and the Adjudicator don't see this as a mistake at all. (And obviously neither do you - clearly you attended the HMRC's college for lessons in common sense)

I don't need an accountant, I am not a company, just an individual, with one pension and one income.

It cost me a little over £5000 last time they came calling, however I didn't get compensated for any of this. I appreciate that my circumstances are very different to yours, however, but they still messed up 3 times with us before they got to the right figure.

You should know that HMRC are generally useless at the best of times, and therefore shouldn't be trusted.

CK

mart.vader

CKhalvashi wrote: »

It cost me a little over £5000 last time they came calling, however I didn't get compensated for any of this. I appreciate that my circumstances are very different to yours, however, but they still messed up 3 times with us before they got to the right figure.

You should know that HMRC are generally useless at the best of times, and therefore shouldn't be trusted.

CK

Yes, they messed up with my tax figures at least three times, too.
How could it be possible that someone who earned less than the personal tax allowance, (with no capital gains) can owe tax for that year? You can see that - I can see that, but HMRC can't see it ?

If they had £40,000 of your money for four years, interest free, why didn't you do what I did, Complain ! then you can spend a year corresponding with these jokers, and another year waiting for the Adjudicator to look at it, and at the end, they will say, "We can't see that we did anything wrong".

Still, at least we can now agree that HMRC are useless.

So why are they in charge of collecting taxes ?

zygurat789

CKhalvashi wrote: »

It cost me a little over £5000 last time they came calling, however I didn't get compensated for any of this. I appreciate that my circumstances are very different to yours, however, but they still messed up 3 times with us before they got to the right figure.

You should know that HMRC are generally useless at the best of times, and therefore shouldn't be trusted.

CK

These days it is "Self Assessment" you have to do it all yourself. Are you sure you didn't get it wrong?

Cook_County

zygurat789 wrote: »

These days it is "Self Assessment" you have to do it all yourself. Are you sure you didn't get it wrong?

Indeed the OP has already said that s/he got something wrong which was failing to claim at least three refunds; so it sounds as the OP filled in forms incorrectly.

I empathise. HMRC forms and processes are often confusing; but the ballot box and one's MP can get these changed.

We still only have a smidgeon of the story here - and it is from someone who is ranting and shouting about it, so we have no means of knowing who did what, when and why.

CKhalvashi

zygurat789 wrote: »

These days it is "Self Assessment" you have to do it all yourself. Are you sure you didn't get it wrong?

Mine is a little confusing, as I was in the UK for 106 (tax) days that year, but over a rolling period of 4 years, it averaged out at (I think) 74 days. My accountant fills it out, I sign it.

I've got a UK-based business and a business based in my home country, but I'm non-dom and not actually 'resident' anywhere most years. This is where the confusion comes in.

Cook_County wrote: »

Indeed the OP has already said that s/he got something wrong which was failing to claim at least three refunds; so it sounds as the OP filled in forms incorrectly.

I empathise. HMRC forms and processes are often confusing; but the ballot box and one's MP can get these changed.

We still only have a smidgeon of the story here - and it is from someone who is ranting and shouting about it, so we have no means of knowing who did what, when and why.

The forms are confusing, as are the tax rules.

I still can't see, if OP is telling the truth, how a, say, £5000 income is taxable in anyones minds.

CK

Cook_County

CKhalvashi wrote: »

I've got a UK-based business and a business based in my home country, but I'm non-dom and not actually 'resident' anywhere most years. This is where the confusion comes in.


CK

According to your profile on this forum you are resident in London/Herts. I wuld expect HMRC to believe what you state publicly.