employer error = £6k underpaid tax! help

a155

My husband was offered the opportunity to join a lease car scheme via his employer which he decided to do. All forms signed all fine and dandy. Had the car 3 years as per the contract.

Upon sending the car back he then recieved a notification from HMRC to say his tax code had changed as he has underpaid tax on the lease car benefit for the past 3 years.

It transpired that the administrator in his company doing the scheme had failed to notify HMRC of quite a few employees on the scheme.

HMRC agreed to take the £6k back in his tax code over the following 3 years . BUT i feel very aggrieved that we were not the ones to make a mistake yet we are footing an unpleasantly large bill. In the letter from the HMRC they say if the error was wholly the employers which it was then we can appeal.

Has anyone any advice as to how to go about this and has anyone been successful in doing so ?

If when we had the original lease car scheme quote this cost had been included as it should have been the car would not have been such a good deal and we would not have gone ahead with the scheme.

Advice appreciated.

le_loup

You've enjoyed the benefit and had your tax on it deferred for up to six years.
Well done

Skint_yet_Again

Whilst the employer should have informed HMRC about the taxable benefit the guidance states your husband is also responsible for his own tax affairs and should have informed HMRC

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/codes-company-benefits.htm

At least they have agreed to collect the arrears over 3 years.

Spidernick

It always amazes me when people have something like a company car and don't think they should be paying tax on it. To my mind the individual is almost as much to blame as the employer.

System

I have a company car myself and have just asked for my tax code to be amended after calculating my car benefit this year.

Ultimately it is your responsibility to check your own tax. Car benefit is pretty easy to calculate, so there aren't really any excuses.

agrinnall

What was the basis for thinking that tax would not be due on a benefit in kind? I think HMRC have been pretty generous to collect the tax due over 3 years, he should take the offer and keep his head down.

DaveTheMus

The self-pitying call of 'it's not my fault so I shouldn't have to pay' is so prevalent in Britain today...

a155

My point was if we had been given all the facts and figures correctly in the first instance then we would not have found the "deal " attractive and joined the scheme. We were led to believe the figures quotes included the tax implication and therefore was the true cost of having the car.

I have no problem in paying what is due but I am hacked off to be told incorrect information and then suffer financial hardship as a result of someone else s error.

As said we were told the figures quotes were inclusive of the car benefit and indeed were paying what we were told was the correct amount due in tax for the car benefit hence not being an accountant who are we to judge what the taxable benefit of the car was.

You guys are pretty judgmental, I guess you have never suffered as a result of someone else s duff information.

DaveTheMus

a155 wrote: »

My point was if we had been given all the facts and figures correctly in the first instance then we would not have found the "deal " attractive and joined the scheme. We were led to believe the figures quotes included the tax implication and therefore was the true cost of having the car.

I have no problem in paying what is due but I am hacked off to be told incorrect information and then suffer financial hardship as a result of someone else s error.

As said we were told the figures quotes were inclusive of the car benefit and indeed were paying what we were told was the correct amount due in tax for the car benefit hence not being an accountant who are we to judge what the taxable benefit of the car was.

You guys are pretty judgmental, I guess you have never suffered as a result of someone else s duff information.

Sue your husbands employer then, after all it is their fault...

I don't see why HMRC(the taxpayer) should pay.

Thrugelmir

a155 wrote: »

You guys are pretty judgmental, I guess you have never suffered as a result of someone else s duff information.

We live in a world where personal responsibility is severely lacking. I blame the nanny state personally. Car benefit is nothing new. Availability of google really means that there is no excuse for not knowing at least the basic facts.

longforgotten

As I understand it if you have a company car , a benefit in kind, then when you are sent a tax coding notice it will show an adjustment for the 'benefit in kind'. I would perhaps understand your predicament if you received a tax coding and there was an adjustment on it and you assumed it was correct. However, if you did not receive a tax coding notice, knowing that there were tax implications for a company car then some would say you should have been chasing to find out what was happening. Hindsight is a wonderful thing .


Going back a bit, I thought if a paye mistake was caused by an employer then it was the employer that had to pay the bill ??