Tax refund now I've retired

Steve059

I suspect that only advising any changes - IIRC, my occupational pension provider only does so for over £1 - is to cut costs. Fair enough.

At least, now that you're retired, you'll have the time to ring HMRC.

zygurat789

Steve059 wrote: »

I suspect that only advising any changes - IIRC, my occupational pension provider only does so for over £1 - is to cut costs. Fair enough.

At least, now that you're retired, you'll have the time to ring HMRC.

But maybe not the money to ring an 0845 number who will answer and then keep you hanging on for ages at 5p per minute.

mgdavid

I'm in receipt of two FS pensions - both send payslips every month, but they are both 'blue chip' companies.

EdinCapitals

zygurat789 wrote: »

But maybe not the money to ring an 0845 number who will answer and then keep you hanging on for ages at 5p per minute.

I have the 08 wizard app on my phone. According to it the alternative landline number is 01506 476066.

moneyistooshorttomention

Well....the update is that HMRC have told me that they don't owe me a tax refund. They say I have underpaid tax:eek:

Not good news....

Thankfully, it's not that big an amount (though over £100).

Having never had any tax allowances whatsoever over the years (other than basic single tax allowance) I am not at all inclined to be over-eager to pay that:cool:

When I asked them how they would propose to collect this apparent underpayment they responded with "through changing your tax code". In actual fact, my income is so low that I'm not due to pay tax anyway (my current income is so low that its over £1,000pa less than current year tax allowance in fact:(:eek::().

In that case...it looks as if they will, at some point, send me a request for "Voluntary Payment" form. Obvious answer to that is that I don't "volunteer" to make any payment and that's the end of that. Errrm...I understand that the fact that this form will be entitled "Voluntary payment" may not necessarily mean it really IS voluntary. It would appear HMRC have a different interpretation of the word "voluntary" to the rest of us.:cool:.

Can anyone enlighten me please on whether "Voluntary Payment" means exactly that, ie it really is 'voluntary' and I can accordingly not volunteer to pay it OR whether they would chase me for it anyway. It really isn't that much (as I said - only just over the £100 mark). However, on my current (very low) income I could do without an unexpected bill landing on my doorstep that I had no option but to pay.

NB; I have had a certain poster on here highly recommended (ie Dunstonh)...but am more than happy to have anyone and everyone's advice on whether it would indeed be "voluntary" as to whether I have to hand over this apparent tax underpayment or no please.

zygurat789

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I was paying tax on my (PAYE) income whilst working.

Since retiring my income is currently too low for me to be liable for tax. Therefore I've paid out tax as normal for a large part of the 2012/13 tax year and presume it is still the case that we can expect a tax refund once that tax year has finished (ie at some point after 5 April 2013) - as I will have been taxed originally on the basis that I would continue to receive the same level of income for the whole of this tax year.

I'm guessing I'm due for a reasonable amount of tax refund and wondering:

- exactly when it will turn up?
- will I receive it in the form of extra pension that month (ie presumably extra in my May 2013 pension) or get it as a cheque?

I am presuming I don't actually have to claim it - as I was on PAYE tax and therefore not responsible for working out/paying my own tax.

Any clues anyone?

If you could post some actual figyres here we could probably be more helpful.

moneyistooshorttomention

Thanks.

...and a previous poster has been PM'ing me and thought that I might be technically liable for the amount HMRC are talking about:(.

So that's been checked out...but the question right now is whether I actually have to pay this amount they say is due or whether a "Voluntary Payment" form means it really IS 'voluntary' as to whether I would actually have to pay them this amount or no.

There is a term, ie "de minimus" that I know HMRC use which roughly translates into "Its so low that we won't bother about chasing up about it...even though we are technically speaking due for it" and that is the basic concept I am going for here. That is, that "technically speaking" they may be due for this amount but, in actual fact, it isn't at all reasonable for them to only tell me about it months after the event and when my income is so darn low and I have never had any allowances whatsoever (other than that basic standard single person tax allowance) and chase me for it.

"Voluntary" means (in my book and most other peoples book) exactly that, ie we might or might not "volunteer" to do whatever the other party requires. I have decided not to "volunteer" any money in the circumstances and am wondering whether the word "voluntary" means they will decide its one of those "de minimus" things and not try to chase me up about it and tell me that they used the wrong word and it isn't actually 'voluntary' at all, but 'compulsory'.

John_Pierpoint

The payment is voluntary in that it is an alternative to waiting for the money to be extracted gently but confusingly by your tax code,

Provided you have any PAYE income you can be issued with a "K" code.
This is a sort of negative personal allowance that can help itself to up to 50% of anything your pension provider sends you.

My late uncle had a "K" code but as his works pension was only £1,000 a year the £500 contribution towards his tax arrears was not enough; and he was slowly getting deeper into debt with the tax man. .

moneyistooshorttomention

Thanks John.

I hadn't realised that money could be taken out of an income beneath personal tax allowance limit.

So, I guess I sit back and wait for them either to do this K code thing on me and my pension provider will hand over this money prior to my being paid it or they send me one of these so-called "Voluntary Payment" forms. Either way, it happens at some point 2014 probably and I have no option but to hand over the cash.

That's cleared that up then and the word "voluntary" they use is definitely misleading then.

Guess I'd better "volunteer" then ...to save confusion as you say on paying tax on the untaxably low income.

jem16

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Well....the update is that HMRC have told me that they don't owe me a tax refund. They say I have underpaid tax:eek:

That may have happened as you changed from having a salary taxed to having your pension taxed and the correct tax code wasn't used or the pension provider didn't take account of previous income.

If you supply the figures they could be checked.

NB; I have had a certain poster on here highly recommended (ie Dunstonh)...but am more than happy to have anyone and everyone's advice on whether it would indeed be "voluntary" as to whether I have to hand over this apparent tax underpayment or no please.

Dunstonh is an IFA and comments on investment threads. He's not an accountant or a tax adviser (although obviously knows about tax with regards investments) so I don't think he would comment on this.