HMRC Complaint

MattWard

Has anyone had a successful outcome from a complaint lodged against HMRC? I’ve acted on their advice and been left massively out of pocket as a result. I’ve lodged a complaint which has been ignored throughout and am now at the final complaint stage available by going to the ombudsmen.

[Deleted User]

MattWard said:

Has anyone had a successful outcome from a complaint lodged against HMRC? I’ve acted on their advice and been left massively out of pocket as a result. I’ve lodged a complaint which has been ignored throughout and am now at the final complaint stage available by going to the ombudsmen.

What was the nature of the advice? 

Pennywise

HMRC don't give tax advice.  What kind of "advice" do you think they gave you?

MalMonroe

Yes.

When I first retired a few years ago I was successful in challenging the tax code HMRC applied to my income (of course it meant I was out of pocket and not the other way around). I knew they were in the wrong and it took a fair few months but they eventually reimbursed me as they'd taken too much tax and they then issued the correct tax code.  

For the past two years - end of the financial year in April - they have tried to tax my income incorrectly and I've had to contact them to point out the errors. You really have to keep your eye on them because sadly, they don't always get it right. In those cases I contacted them via my HMRC account page but when I had the large claim just after retiring, I wrote to them.  And sometimes also phoned when they didn't respond to my letters. You have to keep on at them because they don't think they make errors. They are quick to act when you owe them but not the other way round.

If you do go to the Financial Ombudsman be aware that they have a backlog at the moment, I've just completed a case with them and it dragged on a bit but I didn't mind because the end result was that I won my case.

If you know you are in the right then don't give up, even though it may take a while. 

[Deleted User]

MalMonroe said:

Yes.

When I first retired a few years ago I was successful in challenging the tax code HMRC applied to my income (of course it meant I was out of pocket and not the other way around). I knew they were in the wrong and it took a fair few months but they eventually reimbursed me as they'd taken too much tax and they then issued the correct tax code.  

For the past two years they have tried to tax my income incorrectly and I've had to contact them to point out the errors. You really have to keep your eye on them because sadly, the don't always get it right. In those cases I contacted them via my HMRC account page but when I had the large claim just after retiring, I wrote to them.  And sometimes also phoned when they didn't respond to my letters. You have to keep on at them because they don't think they make errors.

If you do go to the Ombudsman be aware that they have a backlog at the moment, I've just completed a case with them and it dragged on a bit but I didn't mind about that because the end result was that I won my case.

If you know you are in the right then don't give up, even though it may take a while. 

That is fine and absolute grounds for complaint  which was due to the actions or inaction of HMRC. Well done in getting a successful outcome. 

However, the op indicated that the complaint was regarding ‘advice’ given by them resulting in the op being ‘massively out of pocket’ which is an entirely different matter.

[Deleted User]

MalMonroe said:

Yes.

When I first retired a few years ago I was successful in challenging the tax code HMRC applied to my income (of course it meant I was out of pocket and not the other way around). I knew they were in the wrong and it took a fair few months but they eventually reimbursed me as they'd taken too much tax and they then issued the correct tax code.  

For the past two years - end of the financial year in April - they have tried to tax my income incorrectly and I've had to contact them to point out the errors. You really have to keep your eye on them because sadly, they don't always get it right. In those cases I contacted them via my HMRC account page but when I had the large claim just after retiring, I wrote to them.  And sometimes also phoned when they didn't respond to my letters. You have to keep on at them because they don't think they make errors. They are quick to act when you owe them but not the other way round.

If you do go to the Financial Ombudsman be aware that they have a backlog at the moment, I've just completed a case with them and it dragged on a bit but I didn't mind because the end result was that I won my case.

If you know you are in the right then don't give up, even though it may take a while. 

You being on the wrong tax code (something that happens regularly to many people) is nothing at all like what the OP is talking about

badmemory

It may not be but it is a symptom of the ongoing problem.  HMRC has become unfit for purpose.  Well at least the people that most of us speak to have.  Lack of training, lack of knowledge.  They are only phonemonkeys now, not the people with knowledge of what is what.  When you get asked why you are bothering correcting their incorrect info - well you really have to wonder what planet they are on. We have to remember that that incorrect info is our responsibility.  If they have it wrong it is not their fault it is ours.  We all need to be more proactive.  There does seem to be even more incorrect info with every passing year too, I wonder why that is?

Pennywise

badmemory said:

It may not be but it is a symptom of the ongoing problem.  HMRC has become unfit for purpose.  Well at least the people that most of us speak to have.  Lack of training, lack of knowledge.  They are only phonemonkeys now, not the people with knowledge of what is what.  When you get asked why you are bothering correcting their incorrect info - well you really have to wonder what planet they are on. We have to remember that that incorrect info is our responsibility.  If they have it wrong it is not their fault it is ours.  We all need to be more proactive.  There does seem to be even more incorrect info with every passing year too, I wonder why that is?

Inevitable really after Gordon Brown merged all the different tax bodies and then set in motion the closure of local/regional offices, with the associated redundancies of huge numbers of experienced/qualified staff, to be replaced by a few huge call centres.

MacMickster

If I wanted advice about minimising my tax liabilities then I would pay an accountant to provide that advice and would expect the accountant to know the questions to ask to get all relevant facts before giving that advice. If it was a specialist area then I would make sure that the accountant that I chose to give that advice specialised in that area.

If the OP had told HMRC that they were seeking tax advice and wanted that in writing then I'm sure that request would have been refused. If they simply spoke to a bottom rung of the ladder call centre employee then the "advice" that they received was probably worth exactly what they paid for it. A complaint is pretty pointless.

badmemory

MacMickster said:

If I wanted advice about minimising my tax liabilities then I would pay an accountant to provide that advice and would expect the accountant to know the questions to ask to get all relevant facts before giving that advice. If it was a specialist area then I would make sure that the accountant that I chose to give that advice specialised in that area.

If the OP had told HMRC that they were seeking tax advice and wanted that in writing then I'm sure that request would have been refused. If they simply spoke to a bottom rung of the ladder call centre employee then the "advice" that they received was probably worth exactly what they paid for it. A complaint is pretty pointless.

Most of us though are just ordinary people who think that getting an answer to a tax question is just a simple question of asking the tax man.  Most of us get through our whole life never needing an accountant & on the one occasion we may do we are more likely to think of HMRC than an accountant.  A complaint whilst probably getting nowhere at least lets them know that we think that they are doing a not very good job.

kuratowski

It is very easy to construct a scenario when someone calls HMRC with a simple question that has a simple answer, which is correct in 99% of cases, and yet doesn't apply to the OP in their own individual case (because of circumstances that they don't reveal in asking their question).  The safest thing for HMRC's call centre agents to do would be to refuse to answer any queries, and tell people to study the tax manuals, or alternatively to pay for professional advice, but that would undoubtedly lead to just as many complaints...