Tax Return for Self Assessment but Always Been Employed

danonwheels

Hi there,
I have been getting letters from HMRC for a couple of years or so now telling me my tax return is overdue for self assessment but I have been ignoring them assuming it was a mistake as I have always paid tax via PAYE. I did try and talk to them in 2015 and they told me I had to have a face to face interview but I couldn't make it.

Yesterday I got another of these letters telling me I owe them just over £1500 and that they would take it from my 2018 tax code. They've already taken around £4000 through my tax code over the past couple of years but I have no idea why. This is the first year since 2014 that I have been on a standard tax code rather than a K code.

I called them last night about this letter and was told that I was put on SA in 2014 as I had underpaid tax while employed. Apparently the £1500 mentioned in the latest letter is fines for not submitting a tax return and that they don't know how much tax I actually owe from that period.

But it gets crazier - the chap I was speaking to then told me that he would send me out a tax return form as well as the income details for that period which needed to be entered onto the form. When I asked why they couldn't just work it out if they already had the information they needed rather than waiting for me to copy information they already had onto a form and send it back to them he replied that it is a punitive measure and that I am being punished for not submitting a tax return. This makes no sense to me.

If it's relevant I have dementia amongst other health issues and so find all this impossible to understand but he mentioned that there are people who can help either on the phone or face to face.

Does this make sense to anyone and can anyone explain it to me in Englishg please?

TheCyclingProgrammer

The mistake you've made here is, by your own admission, ignoring the letters. If you'd sorted this out straight away you wouldn't have racked up the fines.

I appreciate that this might be tough for you but isn't there somebody you could have asked to help sort it out for you?

Have HMRC confirmed which years you need to submit a return for?

If you have to complete a return then it's up to you to fill it in with the correct information including your employment income details taken from your P60.

danonwheels

No i live alone so have to sort stuff out by myself. I've no problem with being fined if I've not done something i was supposed to, I just don't understand any of it. the man I spoke to last night was extremely rude and just kept going on about me being punished for not paying enough tax. Apparently even though I've always done it through PAYE it's still my responsibility if my employer (the NHS) gets something wrong.

Darksparkle

What do you earn?

Do you claim for expenses? Professional subscriptiona?

danonwheels

I earn £23,000 per annum and don't have any expenses or subscriptions. I currently have a normal tax code but previously I had one that was K something becuase of underpaid tax or something - like I say I don't really understand any of it. they are talking about putting me on another tax code from 2018 to claim some other money back.

xylophone

Your NHS employer is aware that you are suffering from dementia and may need additional support?

Approach your manager about your difficulties- HR may assist?

chrismac1

It is possible to get these fools to go away, but you are going to need help. In my worst case, HMRC pursued a long term mentally ill person for a non-existent tax debt. His brother came to me at his wits end, having tried for over a year but paid out a £3k "tax bill" which was just totally made up by HMRC.

HMRC had mixed his record up with another taxpayer. It took me another year, and a formal Complaint Case, but we got back the £3k and £600 of compensation.

Not a word of apology, of course, for the incompetent bungling or aggression shown to such a vulnerable person. He was in receipt of non-taxable disability benefit - which was part of the problem, some numpty in HMRC decided it was taxable - but the point is that EVERY SINGLE HMRC staff person dealing with him knew they were dealing with a vulnerable person, but still came on at 100 mph all guns blazing "pay up or we bankrupt you" that kinda thing.

Find a good local accountant who has a track record in standing up to the HMRC bully boy tactics.

TheCyclingProgrammer

It is possible for HMRC to retroactively withdraw a notice to file a tax return if you can show that the notice was issued in error (i.e. that you did not underpay tax) however there are time limits on this. If you they do this then any associated fines should be cancelled too.

However, if you did underpay tax and have simply ignored the letters then I'm not sure there's much you'll be able to do to make this go away. To have any chance though, as chrismac1 says, you will need some help.