Mystery tax code 19 March at 5:51PM in Cutting tax 5 replies 167 views

YankeeGran

Because  my husband and I had so much income from ISAs (and PEPS back in the day), we had no taxable income for several years after we retired twenty-ish years ago, and we had a letter from the tax office saying that we need not file tax returns unless our circumstances changed. Now that the tax thresholds are frozen the situation may well change, and I would like some guidance on how to proceed. First and foremost is that I do not appear to have a recognisable tax reference. Can anyone enlighten me as to what 206/RAC402 on a letter from the tax office means? Apparently our old tax codes are no longer valid. 

Jeremy535897

It's a PAYE code that was presumably applied to a pension from a retirement annuity contract.

p00hsticks

I suspect that the 206 may relate to a HMRC Tax Office.
But I'm not sure that that is relevant. What 'tax codes' are you referring to that are no longer valid. 
Your UTR (Unique Taxpayer Reference) - if you have one - is a ten digit-number.

Sarahspangles

I would log into your personal tax account via Government Gateway and have a poke around there - I think pensioners may be set up as PAYE even if they don’t receive a private pension.  There are also links to let them know if you think you may incur tax in future.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

YankeeGran said:

Because  my husband and I had so much income from ISAs (and PEPS back in the day), we had no taxable income for several years after we retired twenty-ish years ago, and we had a letter from the tax office saying that we need not file tax returns unless our circumstances changed. Now that the tax thresholds are frozen the situation may well change, and I would like some guidance on how to proceed. First and foremost is that I do not appear to have a recognisable tax reference. Can anyone enlighten me as to what 206/RAC402 on a letter from the tax office means? Apparently our old tax codes are no longer valid. 

It's just the reference used by a particular pension company.  You presumably no longer even receive income from them.

Other than a few standard codes like BR and D0 most tax codes just apply for a particular tax year and would be recalculated for each new tax year.

But a new code would only be calculated once someone (an employer or pension payer) notified HMRC that they had started to make taxable payments to you.

sheramber

If your circumstances mean you become liable to pay income tax then you need to contact HMRC and advise them

The best time to phone is first thing when lines open so you are at the front of the queue.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/income-tax-enquiries-for-individuals-pensioners-and-employees