HMRC checking 11/12 tax return

bitsandpieces

Most of it The only thing I need to confirm is whether one payment that is being taxed is for an assignment (taxable, of course) or redundancy (not taxable). I'll do that before ringing HMRC, of course.

I guess I'll be paying amount owed, plus interest at 3%, plus any penalty they decide to charge

Thanks for the help in sorting this out.

PlutoinCapricorn

You are not alone: have you seen Corrinney's thread?

bitsandpieces

Poor guy - £3,000 :eek:

Luckily, I stuck the overpayment in a savings account, so shouldn't have too much extra to find (unless HMRC land me with a big penalty :eek:)

PlutoinCapricorn

I hope that you will be able to negotiate with them, and show that you did not deliberately conceal income.

bitsandpieces

Yes - I'm hoping the fact that this would be such an ineffective way to try to conceal income might help convince them it wasn't deliberate!

With luck, the fact that I checked the figures on my tax return with my then employer (although they gave me inaccurate numbers) might help persuade them I did take reasonable care...

aveylee

I'm a company VAT accountant who has dealt occasionally with HMRC for issues like this (Family freebies don't ask...).

Your issue now is to lead HMRC into assessing your behaviour as a Mistake despite taking reasonable care, or at least as a 'careless' error.

Penalties only apply to careless and deliberate errors, and depend on how helpful you've been.

The fact that you provide them all the information at an early stage should mean you get the minimum penalty.

Which for a careless error would be 15% of the missed income. So 15% of the £1,500 which is £225 + interest at 3% on the £1,500 charged from 31 Jan 2013, so estimate about £90.

After you confirm the amounts they should send you a letter asking how the error occurred, my advice is be honest but try to stress how much effort you made trying to get things right, but was confused by the guidance offered on HMRC's website or by your employer. If you can show you took steps to get things right, read guidance etc. you may be able to get them to agree it was a mistake.

Whatever you do don't lie, as that could end up making it 'deliberate with concealment' and a penalty of up to 100% (£1,500)

Another point to bear in mind that at the amount of money you're talking you might be dealing with a compliance centre, rather than an Inspector. The centres are factories and work on turnover and they may not want to get into a drawn out dispute on behaviours! (It should say somewhere on the letter if it is a Compliance Centre).

If the letter is signed off by a Compliance Officer or Tax Inspector it means you're getting the personal touch, and no one wants HMRC taking a personal interest in their tax affairs.

It it is an Inspector though they can spend time reviewing every part of your tax return and go back a number of years, so it might be in your interest to accept a penalty and not give them an excuse.

PlutoinCapricorn

Have you got any hard evidence that the employer gave you the wrong figures?

bitsandpieces

Thanks both for the replies - very useful.

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Have you got any hard evidence that the employer gave you the wrong figures?

Yes - they e-mailed the inaccurate figures for my earnings to me, and I still have the e-mail. I realise now that I should have pushed for another copy of the lost P60 rather than relying on this

bitsandpieces

Thanks for all the help. HMRC chose not to charge me a penalty, so things could have been worse!

PlutoinCapricorn

That is good news: thanks for letting us know.