Where to find tax accountant for my particular case?

nkomp18

Hello,

I am employed at a company and pay my wages via PAYE.

Every year for the last 10 years I receive a letter in April saying that I have underpaid tax and owe HMRC some amount ranging from a few hundred thousand to a few thousand.

I had a meeting with my company's payroll person and they explained that it shouldn't happen since the company uses the correct tax code given to them from HMRC and I have no other source of income.

I am fed up getting those inexplicable adjustments and I want to see professional help. I obviously tried calling HMRC and they aren't helpful, they say it's up to me to prove I owe less and they sent me a full breakdown of my records spanning many years but there is nothing there showing why I always underpay.

I started googling for accountants but I can't find one who could look at my records and give me a good explanation with a one-off fee.

Any ideas?

Dazed_and_confused

You are probably best of speaking to trusted friends/relatives/colleagues and getting a personal recommendation as far as an accountant is concerned.

Every year for the last 10 years I receive a letter in April saying that I have underpaid tax and owe HMRC some amount ranging from a few hundred thousand to a few thousand.

There are plenty of helpful people who can probably help on here. Could you provide details of the latest calculation (I presume you are getting a calculation, not just a letter saying pay £x) you have received and which tax year it relates to. And what your tax code was for that tax year would help.

Have you always paid the amount HMRC say you owed?

It may well not be anything to do with your employer. But it could be. Without the detailed information it's impossible to know where the problem lies. Or even if you do actually owe the amounts HMRC claim you owe.

uknick

nkomp18 wrote: »

Hello,

I started googling for accountants but I can't find one who could look at my records and give me a good explanation with a one-off fee.

I assume you mean the tax owed ranges from a few hundred, not a few hundred thousand

I'm surprised nobody will do the work for a one off fee. You might have to pay a few hours work at say, £100 + VAT per hour, but that is pretty much bread and butter work for us.

As this has gone on for over 10 years, have you thought of signing up for self assessment? Assuming there's nothing particularly strange or complex about your income (from what you've said so far this isn't indicated) I'd have thought it would be pretty straight forward once you get used to doing it. Doing that will put you in control of your tax liability and you'll get a better understanding of what HMRC are talking about.

Pennywise

uknick wrote: »

I'm surprised nobody will do the work for a one off fee. You might have to pay a few hours work at say, £100 + VAT per hour, but that is pretty much bread and butter work for us.

Likewise, very strange you've been unable to find an accountant - there are literally hundreds/thousands of small accountancy firms and as said, this kind of thing is bread and butter work.

I think you may have been looking for the wrong kind of thing, especially on the internet, as there are a lot of internet based firms that only offer monthly fee package services - but they're aimed at businesses, not individuals. Try looking locally instead.

BoGoF

Your first step is to compare your tax code that HMRC has for you with that on your payslips? Do they match?

nkomp18

Tax codes match for the most part. I don't see any calculations, just one figure called "Adjustment" and no explanation where it comes from and the tax I owe is because of this "adjustment".

It happens every year and yes, it's couple of thousand pounds each time.

I keep googling but 99% of accountant services are not for a one-off advice on this specific matter. I'm afraid I'll find someone who is just as confused as I am, or someone who can't give me adequate explanation why this keeps happening year after year even though my tax code is always "Adjusted" and "correct"

BoGoF

What is your tax code at the moment?

Do you have any employer benefits such as a company car?

If you post your last P60 deatils we can check the tax was correct.

kazwookie

Just ring a couple of local accountants ask talk to them over the phone about the problem and ask if they can help you, then ask what their charges are for a one off.

I know my account for the company also offers to do personal tax retruns for about £50 to £100 or so.

So ring then and ask.

Dazed_and_confused

I don't see any calculations, just one figure called "Adjustment" and no explanation where it comes from and the tax I owe is because of this "adjustment".

If you don't see the calculations how are you seeing this "adjustment"?

What is it HMRC have sent you. A P800? If so it may be tax owed from years ago. Which may or may not really be owed.

Have you ever actually paid the extra tax shown as owed when you get this correspondence from HMRC or is just something which occurs each year and then gets forgotten till the next year comes around?

nkomp18

What is it HMRC have sent you. A P800? If so it may be tax owed from years ago. Which may or may not really be owed.

It's a P800 and why is it sent to me every year with a different amount? The letter says that my Tax code will be adjusted for the next year so that the quoted amount will be claimed so I assume I pay this every year and then there's always a new one.

I honestly don't know how to explain it. I've been looking at my payslips, my P60's, the P800s I receive over the years and I can't really make sense of it. In every payslip I pay tax (40%).

No car allowances, or anything extra. Anyway I'll keep googling and maybe I can find someone who specializes in such cases.

Dazed_and_confused

The only way to get to the bottom of something like this is to get into the detail.

Which you might not want to do on here.

But if you can post details of the latest P800 (2017:18?) and your tax code for that tax year it would be a start.

Have you checked your Personal Tax Account on gov.uk to see what your current (2018:19) tax code is and compared that to the tax code on your latest payslips?