Tax underpaid in 2010? Do I have to pay

redfragglebiker

I have just phoned HMRC as they have given me a tax code of 780L when the standard code is 944L for this year.
After speaking to an incredibly unhelpful person on the phone it would appear this arises from 2010 when I had a number of short term jobs and it appears my employers have all used the same tax code meaning my I overused my personal allowance?

My question is that as I filled in all the necessary paperwork when starting a new job each time it would appear that this is the fault of my employers and not me.
Can HMRC now demand this tax is paid back in this way. I fell like this is not my fault and it couldn't have come at a worse time as we have just bought our first house and money is tight enough as it is.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated

somethingcorporate

If your personal code is lower than the standard call then you would have overpaid tax, not underpaid.

It is our personal responsibility to ensure we are paying the correct tax so no, you cannot avoid paying back what you owe by blaming someone else.

notanewuser

somethingcorporate wrote: »

If your personal code is lower than the standard call then you would have overpaid tax, not underpaid.

It is our personal responsibility to ensure we are paying the correct tax so no, you cannot avoid paying back what you owe by blaming someone else.

Your second point is spot on, but your first is completely wrong. The OP is paying more tax because her tax free allowance has been reduced.

notanewuser

redfragglebiker wrote: »

My question is that as I filled in all the necessary paperwork when starting a new job each time it would appear that this is the fault of my employers and not me.
Can HMRC now demand this tax is paid back in this way. I fell like this is not my fault and it couldn't have come at a worse time as we have just bought our first house and money is tight enough as it is.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated

How do you know it's not your fault? What paperwork did you complete? Hell of a coincidence for several employers to all get it wrong.

redfragglebiker

I filled in whatever forms my employers gave me at the time. Usually confirmation of NI number etc and anything else that came with a new starters pack.

If it was something I had done wrong then fair enough but I just feel that I am now being made to pay back money I didn't even know I owed because of someone elses mistake. The woman on the HMRC phoneline even said it was due to how my employers had used my tax code.

notanewuser

redfragglebiker wrote: »

I filled in whatever forms my employers gave me at the time. Usually confirmation of NI number etc and anything else that came with a new starters pack.

If it was something I had done wrong then fair enough but I just feel that I am now being made to pay back money I didn't even know I owed because of someone elses mistake. The woman on the HMRC phoneline even said it was due to how my employers had used my tax code.

Did you give in P45s or complete P46s?

You had a responsibility to check it was right at the time. Did you not get any coding notices from the tax office?

Not that it matters. It's a personal tax issue which HMRC have the right to recover from you.

HeadAboveWater

I had a similar issue.
When I changed employers in May 2011, the figure from my P45 wasn't taken into account on my 'new' wages, and then it carried on through the year when I changed employer again. I didn't realise I had underpaid tax as my payslips were showing I was paying tax each month (if that makes sense).
HMRC sent me a letter saying I owed them. Explained to the (very helpful!!) guy on the phone. He suggested I try to appeal it saying it was 'employer error'.
Unfortunately no joy. But thankfully they adjusted my tax code for this year so I could pay several ££ a month, rather than sending a cheque for the full £££.

redfragglebiker

I mostly gave in my p45 although there were a couple of occasions that I had to fill in a P46 due to not having received my p45 in time from my previous employer.
I have no idea about tax codes and the such and foolishly assumed my employer would know what they were doing.
I also thought that HMRC had chase o/s tax within a year or provide good reason why they had not done so?
It's not like I'm on some massive Tax avoidance scam or anything here. It just feels like they've left it far too late to claim something back from me and that the initial errors were not my fault. I really cannot afford for them to be claiming back something now that relates to errors 3 years ago that were not of my making.

notanewuser

redfragglebiker wrote: »

I mostly gave in my p45 although there were a couple of occasions that I had to fill in a P46 due to not having received my p45 in time from my previous employer.
I have no idea about tax codes and the such and foolishly assumed my employer would know what they were doing.
I also thought that HMRC had chase o/s tax within a year or provide good reason why they had not done so?
It's not like I'm on some massive Tax avoidance scam or anything here. It just feels like they've left it far too late to claim something back from me and that the initial errors were not my fault. I really cannot afford for them to be claiming back something now that relates to errors 3 years ago that were not of my making.

HMRC can go back further than that! Issue could have been caused by the box you ticked on the P46. Do you have copies of the paperwork?

Odds are you're going to have to suck it up though.

cte1111

Look on here for some possible help:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/reclaim/2011/03/thousands-get-tax-demands-written-off-using-hmrc-loophole

A clause dug deep in the HMRC rule-book, called the 'Extra Statutory Concession (ESC) A19', states the Revenue must give up any tax if it has not followed its procedures correctly.

Under the rules, HMRC won't collect tax if it has failed to properly use information supplied by a taxpayer, their employer or the Department for Work and Pensions.

Yet this will only apply if the taxpayer is notified of the underpayment over 12 months after the end of the tax year in which the Revenue received the information.

The taxpayer must also have been unaware he or she underpaid.

redfragglebiker

CTE1111 - Thank you so much - Having had a very brief look over the linked article it may be that this applies to me as I was completely unaware and had provided p45/p46s where required and was completely unaware of any underpayment until I saw my most recent tax code.

I'll let you know how I get on but heartfelt thanks for the useful information.