HMRC praise

SiliconChip

Having recently retired and taken my pension early to go with a pension that was already being paid I found that the tax codes that had been automatically allocated for both pensions were not doing the best job - one was a M1W1 so wasn't recovering previously overpaid tax, and the split was such that one pension didn't have enough allowance to cover it and the other had way too much.

So I rang HMRC at 8:01 this morning, and after listening to a couple of minutes of pre-recorded waffle my call was answered immediately by a very helpful and friendly lady who agreed that the codes made no sense and revised them there and then so that they will hopefully sort out this year's tax and will be correct for next year (well, until my state pension starts, when it'll all go haywire again!). Great service from HMRC, and as usual I can definitely recommend calling as soon as the lines are open.

TripleH

HMRC sorted out a long and messy issue I had once I got through to a person (long story involving late filed return owing to sudden death of my father).

Once you get through to a person I agree they can be great but the problem is getting through.

SiliconChip

Well I've explained how to get through to a person, and it's a method I've been using pretty successfully for many years. So I suspect your issue was more one of getting through to the right person who could actually understand and resolve your problem.

 

I have to say that for a complex problem I had more success writing to HMRC rather than hoping to get someone on the phone who could help, it took quite a long time to get a response but when I did it addressed the issue and fixed it to my satisfaction as well as making an ex gratia payment in respect of the difficulties I had experienced getting resolution.

molerat

So I suspect your issue was more one of getting through to the right person who could actually understand and resolve your problem.

That is the biggest challenge.  I have had a fairly good success rate with the odd one pretty much stating "the computer says" - guess which one of us was right !

MalMonroe

When I first retired I was allocated three separate tax codes. Because I had a state pension and two tiny private ones maybe but I'm not really sure why. It took me quite a while to sort out and I wrote and phoned. I'm not sure if the online service was up and running at that time.

Eight months later everything was sorted and I had one tax code and I was happy. Plus I received a refund of the tax they'd taken.

But now, every single year, they allocate a different, incorrect tax code and I start paying tax in April and then I contact them via the online service and then the tax payments stop and I receive a refund. 

Since retiring, my income has never been over the personal allowance threshold. And it always says 'you are liable for no income tax' on my online account. I know that. So why do they take it? 

At least I know what to do, every April I sign in to my account and send a message. 

It is a great way to get things done because in the past - when we had the original hiccups on retiring - I spent a LOT of time on the phone and writing letters.

I have to say though that every time I did have to contact HMRC by phone, the people I spoke to were very helpful, kind and understanding. But the online service is faster - and improving all the time. 

molerat

The simplest method is to go into your on line tax account and make sure the estimated income from each stream is correct and adjust if necessary, the correct tax code should then be applied to each.

MACKEM99

molerat said:

The simplest method is to go into your on line tax account and make sure the estimated income from each stream is correct and adjust if necessary, the correct tax code should then be applied to each.

How do you adjust it?

SiliconChip

MalMonroe said:

When I first retired I was allocated three separate tax codes. Because I had a state pension and two tiny private ones maybe but I'm not really sure why. It took me quite a while to sort out and I wrote and phoned. I'm not sure if the online service was up and running at that time.

Eight months later everything was sorted and I had one tax code and I was happy. Plus I received a refund of the tax they'd taken.

Three pensions require three tax codes, so I'm not sure why you think you only had one at the end. The code for the state pension would normally be hidden from view as it is allocated first with the aim that no tax is taken from it, and in the vast majority of cases this is what happens. Whatever remains from your personal allowance is allocated to your other pensions, and each of them will have a tax code even if it's BR.

molerat

MACKEM99 said:

molerat said:

The simplest method is to go into your on line tax account and make sure the estimated income from each stream is correct and adjust if necessary, the correct tax code should then be applied to each.

How do you adjust it?

In your Income Tax Summary for the particular income click View or update details then click Update your estimated taxable income.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

SiliconChip said:

MalMonroe said:

When I first retired I was allocated three separate tax codes. Because I had a state pension and two tiny private ones maybe but I'm not really sure why. It took me quite a while to sort out and I wrote and phoned. I'm not sure if the online service was up and running at that time.

Eight months later everything was sorted and I had one tax code and I was happy. Plus I received a refund of the tax they'd taken.

Three pensions require three tax codes, so I'm not sure why you think you only had one at the end. The code for the state pension would normally be hidden from view as it is allocated first with the aim that no tax is taken from it, and in the vast majority of cases this is what happens. Whatever remains from your personal allowance is allocated to your other pensions, and each of them will have a tax code even if it's BR.

There is no tax code allocated to the State Pension.  It is paid by DWP without any tax deduction and forms part of the make up of the tax code of whatever HMRC deem the main source of PAYE income.

So three pensions, one of which is the State Pension, will result in two tax codes.