Unique Tax code error

WJ_Engineering

Hi, In November I received a random tax bill and calculation for my 2016/17 tax return. The calculation stated that I had earned approximately THREE times the amount that I would normally and that I had bee charged a “High rate child benefit charge” (I have NO children). On top of this, I have not even submitted my return for the last year yet.

When I challenged HMRC about this they said that the figures must be correct as that is what I had stated on the return. Remember, I have not filed a return yet. When I pointed out that I would be delighted to pay the amount requested if I had indeed earned that much AND that I had no children AND that I had not even filed a return yet, I was put on hold for a while whereupon they came back to me and said “Okay, we have scrubbed that return from your file now”. The chap I spoke to seemed completely unconcerned that a MAJOR error had taken place. When pushed to explain or trace the issue I was told that someone else must have entered my Unique Tax code by mistake! How can this be aloud to happen? Surely, something somewhere within HMRC’s system must have alerted the “other user” that they were in the wrong account and surely the system, with all its security and passwords etc. should not allow this to happen.

Now, the problem, I hope has been rectified and I would be happy with that. However, over the last couple of years I have been presented with bills and charges etc. from HMRC that I have questioned because they simply did not tie in with my income and paperwork and they could not actually tell me what amounts requested were for. They did however threaten various unpleasant outcomes if I did not comply and pay, so I did but still confused but trusting that they MUST be correct.

After this latest colossal error I now suspect that erroneous happenings have been applied to my account previously which may explain why I have have been randomly charged before. It was ONLY the fact that I pointed out a distinct lack of children that alerted HMRC to the fact that their calculations were incorrect. NOT the fact that I had not even filed a return OR the fact that I was telling them that there was no way I had earned the amount they believed I had.

I can’t believe that if it simply a case of entering a wrong digit which can cause such errors that I am the only one.

Has anyone else experienced this issue before?
Did you pursue the issue?
Did you manage to get any amounts refunded due to their errors?

Browntoa

Id ask this on the tax part of the forum , I'm afraid I cannot move it

Carl31

with HMRC, the onerous is on you to ensure your tax returns and affairs are dealt with correctly. Errors always occur with them, usual public service BS, theyre not known for being very good, so its always best to check your numbers and returns, use an accountant if necessary