P800 Tax Calculation

Bazofts_Revenge

I doubt this is would be quite a shock to people here but HMRC are bloody useless. Is it no wonder this country is in a state.

I feel so sorry for anyone who is claiming JSA and having to jump through all the daily hoops and prove they've been looking for work whilst being interrogated by some jobsworth.

HMRC have sent me a P800 tax calculation stating I've had the equivalent of 44.5 weeks worth of JSA. All very nice except I haven't claimed any for 18 months. In addition to this they have added just about the same amount on top of my actual salary which was sent in on my P60.

They are now saying I owe them £600 in tax. I've written a letter of complaint to them and enclosed a copy of my P60.

Thankfully my bank statements will show I've not received any other monies from them but I am concerned as to how I can prove innocence or would they have to prove to some independent committee that I have received and or claimed such benefits.

I'm also thankfull that they are just getting the money back via my taxcode so once they realise their error they can put it right and it will be sorted straightaway.

Their phone line has been a waste of money. I have not got past the 'We are too busy to answer your call' message until today when the message was our computers are down so we can't access your records.

agrinnall

While none of us would be surprised to find it's due to errors by HMRC, it's certainly not the only possible explanation. For instance, the double salary could be an error on your employer's P35 annual return. One question, did you give the P45 they you would have received on ending your JSA claim to your employer when you started work? Unless this was processed HMRC may have been unaware you were no longer claiming JSA.

Trillain

A similar thing happened to me, I was only signed on for a couple of weeks in 2012-13 tax year, but earlier this year got a calculation from HMRC for 2011-12 tax year saying I had not paid enough for the JSA I received in 2011-12. The funny thing was it showed my PAYE deductions from my full-time job that year along side the imaginery JSA. All it would have taken was someone to think for a second and realise that it was impossible I was receiving JSA while being employed full-time. Anyways took 6 weeks or so to resolve, had to ring Job centre and ask for P45 for 2011-12, which confused them as I wasn't on their books during that period and send it off with a sarcastic letter to HMRC.

zygurat789

agrinnall wrote: »

While none of us would be surprised to find it's due to errors by HMRC, it's certainly not the only possible explanation. For instance, the double salary could be an error on your employer's P35 annual return. One question, did you give the P45 they you would have received on ending your JSA claim to your employer when you started work? Unless this was processed HMRC may have been unaware you were no longer claiming JSA.

So, what you're saying is that HMRC may be entirely blameless and fault free in this instance.

Bazofts_Revenge

When I had to claim back some tax for 2011/2012 when my only income had been Carers allowance and then income support I had cashed in a widows pension which would have paid me £200 a year or a lump sum of £5000. I took the lump sum as I still owed for my wifes funeral. The pension company 'kindly' decided to pay me 80% and to pay 20% to HMRC instead of clarifying my tax position. During the process of getting that back HMRC asked about my employment at one of my ex employers companies which I left in 2009. I said I never worked there but another bloke with exactly the same name did. I am beginning to suspect that bloke has possibly taken redundancy and despite us having different NI number (I hope) they have got us mixed up again. We'll see what they have to say when they get back to me.

agrinnall

zygurat789 wrote: »

So, what you're saying is that HMRC may be entirely blameless and fault free in this instance.

Hey, anything's possible, the truth is somewhere between one extreme and the other.

Bazofts_Revenge

I didn't answer the p45 question. I started work again on the 2nd of April 2012 so my tax for 2012/2013 doesn't include any JSA and yes my employer did get my p45 from the Benefits people.

Bazofts_Revenge

A glutton for punishment I have just tried to ring HMRC again twice, The first attempt at getting through their automated menu ended in them cutting me off. The second go I attempted another route and got through to the point where they said 'All our operatives are busy - Goodbye'. Thats another 5 minutes of my life wasted. I bet if I wanted to 'pay' some tax there would be an open line with people waiting to take my call. Going to have words with my payroll at work and ask them not to change my tax code if they can make that decision until this is all sorted out.

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush

Bazofts_Revenge wrote: »

Going to have words with my payroll at work and ask them not to change my tax code if they can make that decision until this is all sorted out.

They can't make that decision.

Bazofts_Revenge

I don't see how they can complain if I don't change my tax code until this is all sorted. Providing my tax code is correct at the end of the tax year it won't really affect HMRC. Why I should be down £50-75 a month until they sort out their mistakes especially when their communication channels are so ineffective. I've never had a problem contacting them before but I suppose we've probably laid most of them off.

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush

Payroll have no discretion in the matter. They must operate the code as issued by HMRC. If they do not do this then they may be liable to penalties for not operating PAYE correctly.