HMRC trying to be funny or am I victim of a fraud?

djcat

Hello,

I just got a tax calculation from HMRC for the year 2011-2012. I will not go into details of my income, but to make it short I earned good money as an employee and paid within the PAYE scheme everything that I had to according to HMRC. The funny part is that they added JOBSEEKER ALLOWANCE to my earnings and want me to pay 40% tax on it!!!

I had a month worth of that benefit three years ago, was lucky to get a job shortly after and told job centre about it asap. I never ever got any tax calculation for it up to this month and I do not understand why HMRC thinks I can make 40% taxed salary with full time employment and get that state benefit.

Is HMRC trying to be funny or is somebody else cashing in on my name? How can I contest this calculation and how can I find out if I am victim of a fraud here, where somebody else may use my details to make money illegally?

Your help is much appreciated, thank you!

HappyMJ

When did you exactly claim JSA? If it's in the tax year 2011/2012 then yes you may have to pay tax on it if it was untaxed and P45's got mixed up and you got a few extra weeks of your personal allowance.

If you are in a high tax bracket then get a tax accountant. They may cost up to £200 but they are well worth it and they can find tax efficient ways of arranging your affairs so you minimize your tax liability.

dori2o

Contact jobcentre and ask them for a letter which confirms the amount of benefit received in 2011-12. Send this letter to HMRC and ask for the 2011/12 year to be recalculated.

This will resolve the problem.

This is a common issue at the moment and is caused by one of 2 things, a) Job Centre did not issue a P45 when the benefit ceased, so as far as HMRC are concerned there has been a continuing payment of benefit.

b) HMRC have previously writtenn to you and asked for the relevant infornmation re the date jobseekers ceased and has not received a response.

In either case, HMRC have estimated how much JSA they thing you have received, and now it is your responsibility to provide them with the correct details.

djcat

Thanks for your quick replies. I claimed JSA in 2010, received one month of it and got a P45 about it. I really do not understand why they say I got 3200 Pounds of it in 2011/2012.

kitschkitty

Then just phone them!

dori2o

djcat wrote: »

Thanks for your quick replies. I claimed JSA in 2010, received one month of it and got a P45 about it. I really do not understand why they say I got 3200 Pounds of it in 2011/2012.

Because they have estimated it.

They have not received information to say the JSA has stopped. Therefore the record is still live and in the absence of any figures from the Jobcentre, they have estimated the annual amount.

Contact Jobcentre, get the letter which confirms the amount of benefit received, send it to HMRC, sit back and wait for them to recalculate the 2011/12 year.

amiehall

You have the P45? That will resolve the issue if you send that to HMRC with a letter asking them to review that year. They should return it but make sure you keep a photocopy just in case!

chrismac1

Two Government bodies both equally incompetent. On the one hand we have the JSA people apparently failing to issue a P45. On the other we have HMRC who have somehow worked out that someone can have a decent job and JSA at the same time for a full year.

9 out of 10 numptie rating for both of them.

If it's any consolation it could be worse. It is not unheard of when someone changes jobs to get their income doubled by HMRC, so someone on £30k gets a calculation for £60k for example.

The computer spits out drivel and there seems to be no exception reports generated for proper checking before unusual ones get posted out. 30 years ago with local tax offices they'd have been mortified to send out this sort of rubbish.

dori2o

chrismac1 wrote: »

Two Government bodies both equally incompetent. On the one hand we have the JSA people apparently failing to issue a P45. On the other we have HMRC who have somehow worked out that someone can have a decent job and JSA at the same time for a full year.

9 out of 10 numptie rating for both of them.

If it's any consolation it could be worse. It is not unheard of when someone changes jobs to get their income doubled by HMRC, so someone on £30k gets a calculation for £60k for example.

The computer spits out drivel and there seems to be no exception reports generated for proper checking before unusual ones get posted out. 30 years ago with local tax offices they'd have been mortified to send out this sort of rubbish.

HMRC are not there to tell you the rights wrongs of both having JSA and a reported earning from a P60.

It is the responsibility of the individual to confirm this information to HMRC.

What do you expect HMRC to do. They have a live JSA record but no information in order to finalise the year. So they issue a calculation with estimated figures and put the burdemn on the individual to correct it.

I personally see nothing wrong with this.

It is possible to have earnings and JSA in the same year. Thre may have been a gap in between jobs. The individual may have been laid off for a period of time but no P45 issued and only 1 P60 received for the employment.

If you spent more time on here helping people rather than airing your ignorant views on HMRC, maybe people would take your (often questionable) advice more seriously.

chrismac1

Commonsense - is that too much to ask for?

With HMRC it is.

jennifernil

But the OP was issued with a P45 for the period he actually received JSA. The amount HMRC want tax on is for a different tax year, and the OP claimed no JSA in that year.