HMRC - how to complain?

GlasweJen

I started a new job in July, handed in my P45 to the new employer at the time but luckily kept my own copy safe. The value on the P45 was £3040.

I've been on tax code 1060 M1 since.

This month my tax code has changed to 1077L which is fine. I'm on £12000 pa as I'm part time, no bonuses and minimum overtime payments as we tend to "take time back".

The problem is my pay slip showed my YTD as being much higher than it really is. When I phoned payroll they said it was because HMRC had given them a previous employment figure of £7500, as a result of this I've been deducted £450 from my pay for income tax.

I phone HMRC and asked them where this figure has come from and they said that the computer misinterpreted what was input (sounds like hogwash) and they will send something to my employer some time in the new year to correct the figure and I'll get my money back. I told them that really isn't good enough as I have bills to pay but they are adamant that even though it's their mistake they won't be able to do a single thing to get money to me.

I've spoken to my employer and without this notification from HMRC they won't do an advance or another pay run as as far as they're concerned I owe it in tax and they can't under pay the tax man. HMRC are adamant that it will get done when it's done and not a moment earlier.

I am lucky that I have savings and OHs salary that I can tap into but I want to complain as I can't be the only one who is affected by some over paid person in an office typing in nonsense amounts to a system and then taking their sweet time in fixing the problem. Is there an official form I can use to complain or do I just write a letter?

Darksparkle

GlasweJen wrote: »

I started a new job in July, handed in my P45 to the new employer at the time but luckily kept my own copy safe. The value on the P45 was £3040.

I've been on tax code 1060 M1 since.

This month my tax code has changed to 1077L which is fine. I'm on £12000 pa as I'm part time, no bonuses and minimum overtime payments as we tend to "take time back".

The problem is my pay slip showed my YTD as being much higher than it really is. When I phoned payroll they said it was because HMRC had given them a previous employment figure of £7500, as a result of this I've been deducted £450 from my pay for income tax.

I phone HMRC and asked them where this figure has come from and they said that the computer misinterpreted what was input (sounds like hogwash) and they will send something to my employer some time in the new year to correct the figure and I'll get my money back. I told them that really isn't good enough as I have bills to pay but they are adamant that even though it's their mistake they won't be able to do a single thing to get money to me.

I've spoken to my employer and without this notification from HMRC they won't do an advance or another pay run as as far as they're concerned I owe it in tax and they can't under pay the tax man. HMRC are adamant that it will get done when it's done and not a moment earlier.

I am lucky that I have savings and OHs salary that I can tap into but I want to complain as I can't be the only one who is affected by some over paid person in an office typing in nonsense amounts to a system and then taking their sweet time in fixing the problem. Is there an official form I can use to complain or do I just write a letter?

Do you know for sure that's it's HMRCs error and not an error in the submission of your old employer?

I've seen a few cases where the P45 is right but the RTI info sent by the employer is wrong.

There isn't a form for complaints, just write in or ask to speak to a manager.

You say they will notify your employer so they can correct it and you can get any monies due back so it's not like they are doing nothing. Nothing could happen until your employers next payroll run anyway.

Call centre/admin staff get paid £18,000. I wouldn't say they are overpaid.

GlasweJen

HMRC said on the phone that it was their mistake and when I asked how it happened the guy said "oh erm, we have the right number on the paperwork but the computer misread it".

As for £18K being low paid for a call centre, my full time rate is £16.5K to take blood and put canulas in people, I'm sure for £18K the country can hire someone who knows the difference between a 3 and a 7.

Darksparkle

GlasweJen wrote: »

HMRC said on the phone that it was their mistake and when I asked how it happened the guy said "oh erm, we have the right number on the paperwork but the computer misread it".

As for £18K being low paid for a call centre, my full time rate is £16.5K to take blood and put canulas in people, I'm sure for £18K the country can hire someone who knows the difference between a 3 and a 7.

People make mistakes no matter what they earn. Surely you can't say you never have.

booksurr

your anger is way OTT

why has it taken you from July - Dec to follow up on a month 1 code? Had you chased this earlier then you would not have run up £450 of overpaid tax.

HMRC made a mistake, you made a mistake. It will be corrected in the January payrun.

GlasweJen

I don't owe £450 a year never mind a month. And I was chasing up the tax office about my tax code, phoned every month after being paid and every month was told it's not a big deal and will be sorted in time, they reminded me that they have lots of people to process and that I will only be paying less than £70 for the whole year so nothing to worry about in terms of being hammered for tax.

And no, I've not made a mistake at work that lead to someone else having to try cancel or rearrange direct debits when the banks are about to close for 4 days.

Darksparkle

GlasweJen wrote: »

I don't owe £450 a year never mind a month. And I was chasing up the tax office about my tax code, phoned every month after being paid and every month was told it's not a big deal and will be sorted in time, they reminded me that they have lots of people to process and that I will only be paying less than £70 for the whole year so nothing to worry about in terms of being hammered for tax.

And no, I've not made a mistake at work that lead to someone else having to try cancel or rearrange direct debits when the banks are about to close for 4 days.

I never said you made a mistake that led to cancelling direct debits, I said that you can't say you have never made a mistake. Everyone has, everyone does.

I would be annoyed too but I personally don't see what complaining will do about it.

Who do you bank with? My bank in Glasgow is open on Saturday.

GlasweJen

RBS, the local one was closed and the next nearest isn't open Saturday's in general. The big one in the city centre is open on Saturday but the road from ours is closed due to flooding. The guy on the phone has sorted some of it but theres one direct debit that they can't cancel in time.

Working in retail before this I had people completely blow their top because the diamantes in their glasses fell out when the glasses were run over by a lawn mower so yeah I want to complain when something as ridiculous as this happens and no one takes responsibility. If the guy on the phone has said something like "oh I'm sorry I can see here someone mistyped it, we can fix that and I'll send the correction through to your work straight away" then fair enough but "the computer did it wrong and we will sort it at some point" really isn't good enough, particularly when it's taken them 5 months and then they've done it completely wrong.

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/complain-to-hm-revenue-and-customs

jimmo

booksurr wrote: »

your anger is way OTT

why has it taken you from July - Dec to follow up on a month 1 code? Had you chased this earlier then you would not have run up £450 of overpaid tax.

HMRC made a mistake, you made a mistake. It will be corrected in the January payrun.

Yes the OP has been on a month1 coding for 5 months but, provided the OP did not have too much of a gap between employments, being on code 1060 M1 is not exactly the end of the world compared to code 1060 !!!. Hardly worth a phone call unless you can get through almost immediately.
The £450 overpayment has not built up over those 5 months. It has all been taken this month.
I would be devastated if that happened to me and I too would be spitting blood if an HMRC person tried to fob me off with a fishy tale about the computer misreading figures. Unlike us humans computers don’t make mistakes. Nevertheless it is evidence that HMRC are at fault.
GlasweJen of course you should make a formal complaint. Personally I would do that in writing but also try phoning again early in the morning as is often recommended on here.
Many years ago, when I was a trainee taxman standard complaint handling procedure was:
1) Find a solution to the problem and put it into action.
2) Make a report to the complaint handler confirming that the problem had been sorted or explaining why not and how long it will take.
When I retired, 9 years ago, I felt that HMRC had it all wrong. They were more concerned with making sure that you knew the “correct” way to complain and that all the formal complaint procedures were followed etc, etc and nobody took responsibility to ensure that the problem was actually solved quickly.
That is why I think you now need to separate the problem and the complaint and deal with them separately.
Clearly the solution to your problem is that HMRC need to send an amended Notice of Coding to your employer. Not exactly rocket science and, in time gone by, a Tax Officer could handwrite a P6 whilst talking to you on the phone and pop it in the post straight away.
Things are different today but I would definitely try another phone call next day they are open.
As regards your formal complaint I would be quite tempted to sit on that for a short time until I could quantify my compensation claim. Sadly, as individuals, the time we spend on this sort of thing is not valued but, with the evidence you already have that the fault lies with HMRC you should get any bank etc charges reimbursed plus a little something for the inconvenience. However it really will be a little something. Just make sure that when you make your complaint you stress that HMRC’s error has cost you.

Darksparkle

jimmo wrote: »

Yes the OP has been on a month1 coding for 5 months but, provided the OP did not have too much of a gap between employments, being on code 1060 M1 is not exactly the end of the world compared to code 1060 !!!. Hardly worth a phone call unless you can get through almost immediately.
The £450 overpayment has not built up over those 5 months. It has all been taken this month.
I would be devastated if that happened to me and I too would be spitting blood if an HMRC person tried to fob me off with a fishy tale about the computer misreading figures. Unlike us humans computers don’t make mistakes. Nevertheless it is evidence that HMRC are at fault.
GlasweJen of course you should make a formal complaint. Personally I would do that in writing but also try phoning again early in the morning as is often recommended on here.
Many years ago, when I was a trainee taxman standard complaint handling procedure was:
1) Find a solution to the problem and put it into action.
2) Make a report to the complaint handler confirming that the problem had been sorted or explaining why not and how long it will take.
When I retired, 9 years ago, I felt that HMRC had it all wrong. They were more concerned with making sure that you knew the “correct” way to complain and that all the formal complaint procedures were followed etc, etc and nobody took responsibility to ensure that the problem was actually solved quickly.
That is why I think you now need to separate the problem and the complaint and deal with them separately.
Clearly the solution to your problem is that HMRC need to send an amended Notice of Coding to your employer. Not exactly rocket science and, in time gone by, a Tax Officer could handwrite a P6 whilst talking to you on the phone and pop it in the post straight away.

The issue isn't the tax code. It's the year to date income figures.