Copy of Cheque

[Deleted User]

unholyangel wrote: »

What reference number did he put on the back? His national insurance number or his UTR?

The one that HMRC asked for on the P800... his national insurance number. Furthermore, all correspondence from HMRC quotes the NI number; they never use his UTR number

Dazed_and_confused

Has he phoned and asked what the balance on his Self Assessment account is?

[Deleted User]

A further development. We received a letter today from HMRC (within 3 days of him talking to them when they actually quoted 2 weeks) confirming that they sent a request to the accounts dept. to investigate the missing cheque which will then be applied to his account by 11 March.

This shows real optimism that they'll find the 'missing cheque'. A touch of redemption perhaps??

[Deleted User]

Dazed_and_confused wrote: »

Has he phoned and asked what the balance on his Self Assessment account is?

NO - he's not entirely comfortable with doing this in case it causes confusion and makes matters worse. I think his HMRC motto is' let sleeping dogs lie'. The 'lie' of course is not in the sense of not telling the truth

[Deleted User]

It would appear that when you ring HMRC, you're not actually speaking to someone who has extensive knowledge of HMRC procedures. It also appears that the front line staff have very limited access to HMRC records/systems. All the front line staff do is perhaps answer simple queries and take/pass on messages.

Would you agree with my assumption?

Dazed_and_confused

Don't know about passing on messages, that sounds incredibly inefficient, but from reading the posts on these forums it is clear that they don't all have extensive tax knowledge.

Although in fairness when you read some of the posts on the Cutting Tax, Pensions and PPI boards it's no wonder things go wrong as the person asking the question sometimes massively overcomplicated things or has such a poor understanding in the first place it's no wonder problems occur.

On the PPI board there are regularly people who notify HMRC of their (non taxable) PPI payout and tax deducted (from the taxable statutory interest element) and get confused when HMRC send them a large bill

unholyangel

[quote=[Deleted User];76737607]It would appear that when you ring HMRC, you're not actually speaking to someone who has extensive knowledge of HMRC procedures. It also appears that the front line staff have very limited access to HMRC records/systems. All the front line staff do is perhaps answer simple queries and take/pass on messages.

Would you agree with my assumption?[/QUOTE]

Front line staff (in any organisation) are usually the worst paid and least qualified. As such, I wouldn't place any high expectations on them regardless of who they work for. You get what you pay for.

I've had good experiences and bad with them. But then I've never expected them to know the same/more than someone who is qualified & paid a lot more.

MizzPenniless

[quote=[Deleted User];76734448]Just a quick update. My partner's bank have rang him this afternoon and confirmed that the cheque has not been tampered with and clearly shows that it's been credited to an HMRC account. They sent him an encrypted attachment in an email and he could clearly see details on the front and back of the cheque. Now that's what I call efficient!

So conclusion.. HMRC received the cheque and cashed it despite them saying they have no record of it. Suspect someone entered the payment to the wrong tax account or someone left the cheque on a suspense account. Whatever the reason, it shows total negligence and incompetence on their part.[/QUOTE]

I'm pleased to hear HMRC have traced the cheque your husband sent. Out of interest,did the bank charge for sending you a copy? I've had a problem with HMRC not acknowledging receipt of a cheque I sent them to repay a tax credit overpayment. It was cashed about a week after I posted it, but their latest communication is telling me I still need to repay the whole amount.. I was thinking of asking my bank for a copy of the cheque.

[Deleted User]

MizzPenniless wrote: »

I'm pleased to hear HMRC have traced the cheque your husband sent. Out of interest,did the bank charge for sending you a copy? I've had a problem with HMRC not acknowledging receipt of a cheque I sent them to repay a tax credit overpayment. It was cashed about a week after I posted it, but their latest communication is telling me I still need to repay the whole amount.. I was thinking of asking my bank for a copy of the cheque.

HMRC have not traced or found the cheque yet. What they said to my partner is that they will INVESTIGATE the missing cheque and this will take them to 11th March before he hears from them. For all we know, they may never find a record of it; but at least we have evidence of it being cashed by them.

It sounds like you could be in the same situation as my partner. His tax account still states that he needs to make a payment for the same amount as the cheque he sent them. Don't hold your breath to have it resolved quickly. I'm sure you'll find that they cashed the cheque - they just can't be bothered to update your record or allocated to the wrong account. Wish you luck when you talk to them - it can be exasperating.

As for the bank, they were very helpful, and they sent a copy of the cheque (both front and back) in an encrypted email attachment without making a charge.

xylophone

to investigate the missing cheque

But the cheque isn't missing? It has actually been presented for payment by HMRC!

It is the whereabouts of the money that has to be traced?