I and wife sent R40s to HMRC

oldwiring

During 2016/7 we placed our investments in the hands of professionals. Subsequently we received from them a composite tax certificate for our joint account with them that included interest paid with tax deducted, dividends, and small amounts from foreign income and PIDs. Also included were gains from surrendered insurance bonds.

My income is well within standard rate band; my wife non taxpayer, who passed her Personal Allowance to me.

Wanting to pay our dues, or hopefully receive any over-payment refunded, we submitted R40s on 6 September, splitting the elements on the joint certificate and the gsin on the bond equally.

At the weekend I received Form P2, that claimed there was an estimated under-payment for 2017/8 of £115. Moreover my code had been reduced from 393M to 170L, because for a reason I cannot see, the allowance from my wife had been removed.

Since them I have been on my personal tax account, and have noticed my code has changed twice, reducing each time.

There is supposed to be a chat service, found with difficulty, which
just refers you to unhelpful pages, and telephones are always engaged. Correspondence tracker also says I sent a letter at the end of August of which I have no recollection of copy.

What the dickens are they up to? Advice, please, how to deal with their debacle.

sheramber

Phone when phones open at at 8am or slightly before.

Dazed_and_confused

Although you don't mention it by name I'm guessing your wife applied for Marriage Allowance and gave up 10% of her Personal Allowance.

This is normally stopped for one of three reasons,
you or your wife cancel it or,
one (or both) of you are higher rate payers or,
you have already claimed Married Couple's Allowance (which is financially more beneficial than Marriage Allowance)

From your op it seems neither of you are higher rate payers and you seem surprised at the new tax code so I can only presume you (or your wife) haven't deliberately cancelled it which just leaves Married Couple's Allowance.

Does the new tax code (the one you got through the post) include Married Couple's Allowance?

If not is it possibly you could actually be a higher rate payer in 2016:17? Would the dividends or chargeable gain from the bonds(?) make that possible. It can get complicated with dividends and Marriage Allowance, particularly within the £5000 dividend income now taxed at 0%.

And ignore the "tax codes" on your personal tax account, they are irrelevant, only the one you got through the post is actually going to be used. If the code includes an in year adjustment (the £115?) then what you see on your personal tax account changes every day because it seems to recalculate the tax restriction necessary to collect the £115 every day but only the code posted out to you is actually used. There was a long thread on here about this a few weeks back.

xylophone

From your op it seems neither of you are higher rate payers and you seem surprised at the new tax code so I can only presume you (or your wife) haven't deliberately cancelled it which just leaves Married Couple's Allowance.

One of them would have to be at least 82 to be eligible - OP says

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/72689828#Comment_72689828

We're both 80, and she has done the done the MA thing.

oldwiring

@xylophone When I mentioned my wife and allowances, I was referring to the amount of Personal Allowance she is permitted to transfer.

polymaff

No chance that you both applied for MAT?

What was the interest paid with tax deducted?

oldwiring

What was on my R40(M)-
[UR=https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B16WAVYKSZrBUWxjRl8tQ3NmQ2c] here[/URL]

oldwiring

What was on my R40(M)-
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B16WAVYKSZrBUWxjRl8tQ3NmQ2c

BoGoF

The inclusion of the Chargeable Event Gain is taking you into 40% bracket.....which means you weren't entitled to transfer wifes personal allowance. I suspect HMRC have issued a calculation showing underpayment and you have not received this. You need to phone ask for this to be reissued

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gains-on-uk-life-insurance-policies-hs320-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs320-gains-on-uk-life-insurance-policies-2015

oldwiring

BoGoF wrote: »

The inclusion of the Chargeable Event Gain is taking you into 40% bracket.....which means you weren't entitled to transfer wifes personal allowance. I suspect HMRC have issued a calculation showing underpayment and you have not received this. You need to phone ask for this to be reissued

I shall do what @BoGoF suggests, but what really galls is the removal of the transferable allowance for the current 17/18 year seemingly (to me) on the assumption that a chargeable event will repeat itself. We now have no insurance policies.