hmrc breached confidentiality

silvercar

[Deleted User] wrote:

I would not wish to question you at all but on the 'tailor your return' section one of the questions is 'Do you have an agent?' This appears every time you fill in a return. If you did not answer 'Yes' to that question and did not subsequently fill in the agent details the mystery would still remain. People change or get rid of agents all the time and that is specifically why the details are requested every year.

It could well be that you answered 'Yes' in view of the fact that you do have an agent albeit for the limited company - possible?

kidmugsy wrote: »

Me too; and although my tax affairs are very simple I still find it makes me tense. This explains, presumably, why I have made an occasional mistake in the past. Could you have made a mistake by nominating your agent?

I don't recall ever filling in that section. The fact that my (limited company) agent is equally as mystified makes me believe that this is not my error.

pleasedelete

I don't really see why this is an issue. You have a tax refund- presumably as you have overpaid on account. As you company accountant then he will know theta either you made less money or paid less dividends last year. As your company accountant he should know about your personal tax really - as then he can offer the best advice to you.

So non issue

silvercar

pleasedelete wrote: »

I don't really see why this is an issue. You have a tax refund- presumably as you have overpaid on account. As you company accountant then he will know theta either you made less money or paid less dividends last year. As your company accountant he should know about your personal tax really - as then he can offer the best advice to you.

So non issue

Incorrect.

He knows about money earned from the company, he doesn't know or need to know about any savings income or income from property that I may or may not have.

He thinks it is a breach, I think it is a breach.

Savvy_Sue

silvercar wrote: »

Really annoyed about it as, aside from his professional capacity, I know him in a personal capacity and he and I are now both embarrassed and annoyed that he has information that he shouldn't have.

I can understand you wanting to get to the bottom of how this happened, but that bit I've bolded seems a bit of an overreaction if you don't mind me saying so.

As a professional, I'd have thought he was quite capable of taking a professional approach even when you see him in a personal capacity.

I've sometimes been privy to highly personal information (criminal records, debts etc) for people I've known both at work and socially, and I didn't feel it affected our social relationships. From my point of view, it didn't: I can and do compartmentalise information quite effectively. I find something out: no-one else will hear it from me.

Darksparkle

silvercar wrote: »

Incorrect.

He knows about money earned from the company, he doesn't know or need to know about any savings income or income from property that I may or may not have.

He thinks it is a breach, I think it is a breach.

Don't think it can be considered a breach at this point as the OP has no idea how the agent details ended up on the return and as mentioned before, the CT system and SA system aren't linked.

[Deleted User]

Well someone entered the agents details on the return. As I said, on the initial 'tailor your return' section the question is asked 'Do you have an agent?' You cannot proceed without answering.

If you answer 'No' the agent section will not appear later on in the submission. If you answered 'Yes' you must fill in the details or, again, you get an error message and cannot proceed.

silvercar

[Deleted User] wrote:

Well someone entered the agents details on the return. As I said, on the initial 'tailor your return' section the question is asked 'Do you have an agent?' You cannot proceed without answering.

If you answer 'No' the agent section will not appear later on in the submission. If you answered 'Yes' you must fill in the details or, again, you get an error message and cannot proceed.

So:

1. Does that question appear every time you complete a SA? If so, I definitely didn't enter the details when I completed my SA less than a month ago.

2. Is it possible for an agent to complete that section?

Just annoying that this section is not printed out when you use the "print my SA" function, if it was I could look back over the last 6 years and see how long it has been there.

To those that say I am making a mountain out of a molehill.
a. if it is a breach, then hmrc have done something wrong and should be made to see the error.
b. whereas I have trust in the person not to spread the information, consider that it could have been information that I wouldn't want this person to have for himself.

Keep_pedalling

I seem to remember being asked this question some time in the past, but also don't remember being asked on recent returns, so I think the answer to your first question is no.

agrinnall

I did my mum's tax return between 2009-10 and 2014-15, and on each of them there is a section under 'Finishing your tax return' for noting details of your tax advisor, boxes 15-18.

silvercar

agrinnall wrote: »

I did my mum's tax return between 2009-10 and 2014-15, and on each of them there is a section under 'Finishing your tax return' for noting details of your tax advisor, boxes 15-18.

Are you saying you had to complete it each year, or that it auto filled from previous years?