Tax Query

lizzylugs

I have received a letter advising I owe £188 tax for 2017-2018 but I don't understand this as I earned under 9k and my tax code is 1150L. I have been trying to call them in between my breaks at work but not yet managed to speak to them about it. I am pretty clueless when It comes to tax and insurance any help appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

LL

BoGoF

What does the calculation show your income as? Do you receive any benefits?

lizzylugs

Hi and thanks for your reply

It shows I earned £8896.35, no benefits claimed.

Kind Regards

Socajam

Try calling them late afternoon if you can, say between 3 - 4:30
The mornings are not good

BoGoF

Does the calculation show an underpayment brought forward from an earlier year. It's possible you had an underpayment from previos years in your tax code but you did not earn enough for it to be collected.

lizzylugs

Thank you Socajam

I don't finish work until 7 sadly, I do have a day off on Friday will give them a call. I do remember a couple of years ago I transferred my marriage tax allowance to my husband, but surely can't be related as they would have let me know then.

Many thanks for all your replies : )

Kind Regards

Pat

molerat

Saturday just before 8am and Sunday just before 9am is usually the best time.

unholyangel

The mornings is the best time to call them - between 8am & 10am. The longer in the day you leave it, the longer you'll wait. You get through quicker first thing in the morning because a lot of people are doing the school run/commuting to work and also because thats when the majority of civil servants start their working day.


This time of year tends to be the busiest for anything income tax related - because you have the crossover of last tax year with the new tax year. So even in the mornings expect a wait of 15+ minutes.

Of course, you could always log into/sign up for a tax account and see for yourself what income they have for you for the tax year in question.

Dazed_and_confused

Another possibility is that the £188 is the claw back of an amount of gift aid tax relief?

number9

If you weren't liable to tax in 2017-2018 it may well be an underpayment for a previous year that has been carried forward. You will need to check this by calling or registering online as suggested. If you have made contributions to gift aid, but were not a taxpayer in the year concerned then you would have to pay the tax due (as the charity is claiming the tax part back from HMRC on the basis that you had already paid tax).

If the tax is for a previous year then pin down why and when the underpayment originated. HMRC can only collect underpayments arising from 15/16 onwards (i.e. 3 years). When they updated their PAYE computer system a few years ago it couldn't fully cope with this rule and some underpayments which should now be considered "out of date", because they were not collected at the appropriate time, should not be pursued and a "concession" given on your tax record.
I am ex-HMRC and aware of this. A lot of the general public may just take the demand as being correct. I am now a support worker and yesterday I helped a long term unemployed client have a demand for £219 "written off" (technically a concession - although they could not trace how old the underpayment was or the reason he was underpaid so it could've been incorrect. We'll never know! How can you send someone a bill for an amount you cannot consolidate?)

Good luck. You're correct to question anything you don't understand or has not been justified/communicated to you.