Didn’t Understand - signed new employment contract

chapelhouse123

Thank you Marcon, I’ll take another look. Another Question if any Legals can respond - Do I have the legal right to ask former company to supply me with a Breakdown of the figure they entered onto the P11D, just for info it was £13802.40 this was for 12 months train travel from Dorset to London. I have asked for the breakdown, they have replied telling me I would have to pay them and their accountant for this information asking for £500 up front - thanks in advance 

68ComebackSpecial

Does the £13k charge reflect the amount your employer reimbursed you for your travel expenses from home to office for the tax year? You can make a Subject Access Request for the information and they can only levy a reasonable administrative charge for collating the information - certainly nothing like £500. They will have the figures easily available to them in order to support their P11D declaration to HMRC.

This might help, or a quick Google on the subject:

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-do-i-make-a-subject-access-request

Marcon

chapelhouse123 said:

Thank you Marcon, I’ll take another look. Another Question if any Legals can respond - Do I have the legal right to ask former company to supply me with a Breakdown of the figure they entered onto the P11D, just for info it was £13802.40 this was for 12 months train travel from Dorset to London. I have asked for the breakdown, they have replied telling me I would have to pay them and their accountant for this information asking for £500 up front - thanks in advance 

Not sure why you would want the breakdown? And how did they know what to 'reimburse' if you didn't submit claims for your travel?

Thrugelmir

Did you not retain a copy of expense claims that you submitted? 

chapelhouse123

Thank you for all replies, and the Google link. 
I do have copies of all of the monthly expenses, I can’t get to the the figure that they have, I get to 9k odd, I just can’t help feeling duped to a certain degree, of course I understand NOW, that I didn’t understand fully the new employment contract that I signed noting the change of offices work place being the London office rather than the Southampton office where I’d been based for the previous 4 years doing the same job, where all of my travel expenses were paid in full as a building surveyor. So the tax bill for me and my family is a complete shock, I fully accept I will have to pay it, but just to pay up without really understanding where they got their figures from feels wrong. And the reply I received to my email from the MD asking me to pay him to get his accounts team to give me the breakdown of the figure is a bit below the belt. On a positive note I do believe that the tax office could offer me a monthly payment scheme to accommodate the debt, it’s due to be paid on 17th Sep so I’ll soon find out, fingers crossed. Thanks again for info and advise.  

Dox

chapelhouse123 said:

I do have copies of all of the monthly expenses, I can’t get to the the figure that they have, I get to 9k odd,

I fully accept I will have to pay it, but just to pay up without really understanding where they got their figures from feels wrong. And the reply I received to my email from the MD asking me to pay him to get his accounts team to give me the breakdown of the figure is a bit below the belt. 

That's quite a difference. Are you sure the whole amount relates to travel expenses reimbursed by your employer?

If so, I would write again to your employer, with a summary of your expenses and a precise figure for the amount they total, and say that you will be sending that information to HMRC asking them to investigate the accuracy of your P11D unless the employer can explain their figure within the next 15 working days, without charge.  That should get some action, but if it doesn't, send all the information to HMRC and say you haven't been able to get a satisfactory response and do not feel you should have to pay your employer £500 to get one.

Make very sure you stick precisely to the facts and don't add in any superfluous comments, however tempting it might be!

chapelhouse123

Thank you Dox, that’s a good piece of advice, I’ll dig it all out and double check my figures 

isplumm

chapelhouse123 said:

Thank you Dox, that’s a good piece of advice, I’ll dig it all out and double check my figures 

Quick question - did you get any other benefits like health insurance or travel insurance - that would be on your P11D form - although I am assuming that you be able to see that easily enough on the PIID?

Mark

MalMonroe

I don't understand either. 

I'm self employed and have to complete a tax form every single tax year. Which means I know approximately how much tax I'm going to have to pay and so I save a regular amount each month so my tax won't come as a big shock. So if you have been self employed for 28 years and have been completing tax forms for all that time, how come you don't understand what's going on now? 

If I were you, I'd have to phone HMRC and ask them what happened. Ask them to go through the tax bill with you and explain every single detail. Otherwise, you're going to drive yourself crazy. 

I really don't think writing to that employer asking for information within a certain time frame will do any good, as others have said, employers just follow the instructions they are given by HMRC. 

The only real way to sort it, and I say this as one self-employed person to another, is to phone HMRC. I've had problems in the past and have tried sending letters and info by post but have always ended up having to phone in the end. I know it's a bad time, what with coronavirus and everything and you may have to hang on for a while and wait for ages but it's worth it. I also know HMRC has a bad reputation but the advisers, in my experience, mostly know their stuff. 

What have you got to lose? Try phoning. It's much better than speculating, wondering, guessing and issuing ultimatums to an employer who has now moved on.

Savvy_Sue

If you're going to phone HMRC, try doing so at 8 am.