HMRC - Do They Know What They Are Doing?

Butterfliesarepretty

Hello,

I have not been on moneysaving for a while.
Has anyone had any experience with paying tax back owed from previous years?

I have always worked full time up until July 2016 when I resigned from work with panic attacks and stress.
At that time we moved house to Darwen in September and I started work again part time 25 hours a week for an agency.
Since then I have paid zero tax as I have always worked part time and I am under the threshold. HMRC were notified by my employers at that time.

I have an online account for my tax and my national insurance record. And they were all paid up.

In June this year I received my tax calculation saying I owed tax of £1087.40 from 2016-2017.

In August I received a letter saying I needed to do a self assessment tax return so with all the p45 and p60s and payslips I followed the instructions and entered the figures required.
It then showed that I had overpaid by £322 and this paid straight into my bank account.

As for the £1087.40, I received more letters saying they had adjusted the figure to £1096.00.
So, I phoned in and spoke to someone who told me I owed it and that they would not check with the previous employer. Not very helpful. She promised to send me instructions on how to set up a payment plan and weeks later I still hadnt received them.

So I went to a local tax accountant and she spent an hour with me. She devised a spreadsheet and put in all the figures from the old payslips and p45 and p60 I provided her with from my previous employers (several agencies) and my now permanent part time employer.

She said that the agency I worked with from September 2016 had not taken tax off me and that it was their error but I would still have to pay this back.

This still confused me as from Jan-July I was taxed for working full time and from September 2016 worked 25 hours a week over five days. Since then I worked for other agencies part time and now since 2018 I have a permanent job working 3 days a week earning around £833 a month, not taxed.

Today I rang hmrc to set up a payment plan, they accepted a direct debit of £90 per month until Feb 2021 to pay off the owed tax and the extra £322. The lady said that when I get my next tax calculation letter that if it turns out what I am paying back is incorrect I will be refunded. Also interest is included as its going over 12 months, yet I was only notified in June.:mad:


I just dont get it. One of my friends paid a debt to hmrc straightaway and her tax accountant said hmrc do not have the right to claim unpaid tax when its the employers fault. She is still trying to get it back.

Anyone else any stories???

calcotti

This would be better posted on the tax forum - this is the welfare benefits forum.

comeandgo

Payment of the correct tax is your responsibility and no one else's.

Butterfliesarepretty

comeandgo wrote: »

Payment of the correct tax is your responsibility and no one else's.

Yes and I quote that I have an online tax account which I check and it shows fully paid for 2016-2017 still - yet Im getting the letters.

sheramber

She said that the agency I worked with from September 2016 had not taken tax off me and that it was their error but I would still have to pay this back.

Did that agency treat you as self employed?

Did you get payslips showing tax deducted from them or no tax deducted?