HMRC Confidentiality

System

FOREVER21 wrote: »

Amazingly I was told that I would need to contact HMRC again and give them my permission to give information to the pension service.
Madness one government dept. Can not give information to another dept. I do not think the DP Act was ever meant to be used this way.

Isn't that a deliberate safeguard in the DPA to protect citizens from what would otherwise be an overly powerful central bureaucracy. I like the fact that separate arms of the state can't just share my information at will.

FOREVER21

ceiberman wrote: »

Isn't that a deliberate safeguard in the DPA to protect citizens from what would otherwise be an overly powerful central bureaucracy. I like the fact that separate arms of the state can't just share my information at will.

Nope the DPA was never intended to be used the way it was in my case All it needed was HMRC to confirm information it had previously supplied to the Pension service. Also the pension service supply details every year to HMRC about my pension and I can not remember giving them my permission to do so

jimmo

ceeforcat wrote: »

The letter came from HMRC so- not very much, jimmo.

Nevertheless, as it is you, I accept that your point is valid.

There are others on this thread who I regard less favourably.

I appreciate that, over the past four years ago, I may not have posted as frequently as many, preferring to contribute only where there is misinformation or a gap. Nevertheless, I hope that to some at least, may have been helpful.

To the likes of jimmo, Clapton, pennywise, john pierpoint and others who I have held in high regard - the very best of luck - you do a wonderful job.

Good Luck!

That sounds ominously like a valediction. I hope not but, if it is, I am really sorry to read it.

I can also appreciate your reasons having considered leaving myself on more than one occasion but I continue for the purely selfish reason of keeping my hand in during retirement.

All the best!

John_Pierpoint

:hello:

ceeforcat wrote: »

The letter came from HMRC so- not very much, jimmo.

Nevertheless, as it is you, I accept that your point is valid.

There are others on this thread who I regard less favourably.

I appreciate that, over the past four years ago, I may not have posted as frequently as many, preferring to contribute only where there is misinformation or a gap. Nevertheless, I hope that to some at least, may have been helpful.

To the likes of jimmo, Clapton, pennywise, john pierpoint and others who I have held in high regard - the very best of luck - you do a wonderful job.

Good Luck!

jimmo wrote: »

That sounds ominously like a valediction. I hope not but, if it is, I am really sorry to read it.

I can also appreciate your reasons having considered leaving myself on more than one occasion but I continue for the purely selfish reason of keeping my hand in during retirement.

All the best!

I do hope jimmo is wrong.

It has been known for contributors on here to be born again, sometimes freed from the accumulated baggage of their former life (*) so your spirit can always be with us.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation

I got a nasty mauling for an admittedly careless posting, where I had not allowed for the possibility of the Scottish law being different from the English and Welsh version of the same situation - then the penny dropped as to why the normally forthright but reasonable poster and gone over the top: It was late on a Friday night and I think the poster in question had been "on the sauce".:eek::D

Anyway, happy Christmas and peace and goodwill.

John

(*)
If the spirit of
fengirl
is still with us:hello:

jimmo

John,
I take it you don't know then.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2962396

John_Pierpoint

Thanks jimmo, at least the news gives the explanation for fengirl's sudden silence.
I am amazed that it was as long ago as Spring 2010 when fengirl stopped helping others on the MSE forum.
Her spirit lives on still in some of the postings she made.

persa

jimmo wrote: »

John,
I take it you don't know then.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2962396

I didn't know either. Sad news indeed, I respected fengirl's opinion on tax matters.

On the original topic, with very few exceptions, HMRC will not talk to anyone about a taxpayer's affairs without an original signed 64-8 in place first. Once you had realised the letter had ended up on your desk in error, you should have sent it back explaining that person didn't live at the address or given HMRC a call to say as much - you certainly had no right to question the information on the correspondence. (Honourable intentions or not!)

And as to wrong addresses - it's rare, but I did once receive a notice for a taxpayer I had never heard of, with a completely different agent's name on the notice, but our address beneath. When I rang HMRC to let them know we had never acted for the taxpayer in question and to kindly stop sending us letters about them, they were baffled as to what had happened. They took our address off their system, but couldn't explain what had gone wrong. These things can happen.

However, more likely is that the taxpayer lives or used to live one down the road and has either put the wrong number on a form at some point or HMRC have input the wrong number.

Savvy_Sue

persa wrote: »

I didn't know either. Sad news indeed, I respected fengirl's opinion on tax matters.

At the time, I made sure the news was shared on the Charities and Small Biz boards, where she was also a most valuable member, but I don't think I was BG here (or even reading much!) then so didn't realise how much you'd all miss her too. Yes, I still miss her.

persa wrote: »

And as to wrong addresses - it's rare, but I did once receive a notice for a taxpayer I had never heard of, with a completely different agent's name on the notice, but our address beneath. When I rang HMRC to let them know we had never acted for the taxpayer in question and to kindly stop sending us letters about them, they were baffled as to what had happened. They took our address off their system, but couldn't explain what had gone wrong. These things can happen.

A baffled HMRC, my goodness me ... Something similar happened at work: we changed agent, but somehow the change wasn't recorded everywhere it should have been, so some things continued to go to the old agent, and of course they wouldn't talk to the new agent about these even though they had their details ...

MysteryMe

Seal the envelope, mark it "not at the address" and place it in a postbox. How difficult is that?