Help! In debt to HMRC

VastOctopi

So I stupidly signed up for self assessments about 3 years ago. I had no income for a few years so I thought I didn't have to file self assessments.

I now know that was wrong and I'm facing huge fines for not filing. However the government gateway ID that I signed up with has been deleted for not being used in 3 years. I have set up a new personal tax account but the self assessment page is inaccessible because it is connected to a different account (the deleted one which I cannot log in to). I just want to know how much I owe in fines (maybe thousands?) and how to pay them off so I can stop them from going up £10 every day.

I've tried phoning HMRC multiple times but get put on hold until lines close. Today finally got through but after stating my name was hung up on. I'm at a bit of a loss if I can't access my fines online and also can't get anything from them on the phone. These fines will just keep racking up with interest and put me in huge debt. 

Any advice on how to reach HMRC is hugely appreciated, or what you did if in a similar situation. 

Thank you 

DullGreyGuy

HMRC's Live Chat tends to be very good

sourcrates

Failing that put it all in a written complaint and follow HMRC`s complaints process.

See here -

Complain about HMRC - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

chris1973

If it helps to give an idea of what you might owe. I was 12 months late filing a self assessment and like you I hadn't traded and had no tax to pay. I had actually logged in and completed the return, but forgot to click submit on the final declaration.

I only found this out when I logged in 12 months later, and saw the completed form from the previous year still sitting there waiting to be submitted, and then I saw the online unread messages, and the total I owed them in late filing penalties.....

For my 12 month oversight in missing a final online click, I was charged £1300 in late filing penalties, so taking your 3 year estimate, you could possibly be looking at anything up to £3900 owing depending on which side of the 3 year estimate you actually are. But that is only an estimate based on my 12 months of accrued penalties and basing it on them adding the same £1300 each year to the total.

If you don't owe anything in tax during the period then at least you won't have accrued interest owing on any tax amount you may owe. Although you'll still probably be expected to individually submit a SA for each year you were obligated to complete one, in order to prove you don't owe anything and stop the penalties.

Although I appreciate that non of this can happen, until you can regain access to your original Gateway account. However, if you no longer have access to the Government Gateway, how have they been notifying you to submit a SA online each year?

I also attempted several times since to de-register from Self Assessment, by filling in their dedicated form, phoning and live chat, yet they still send me notifications to fill in my SA, and every year I log in and declare my £0 business which I closed in 2019. Its an easy club to join, but they hate to lose you. But i've had my fair share of banging my head against a brick wall when it comes with trying to communicate with HMRC

Annisele

I know this isn't the most moneysaving solution, but one possiblity is to hire an accountant and get them to deal with it. My HMRC experience wasn't the same as yours, in that I had declared the correct amount of income at the correct time, paid the correct amount of tax, and could prove it. But I got so fed up trying to persuade HMRC of that that I just paid somebody else to argue with them.

fatbelly

HMRC have recently announced that they will NOT be answering any telephone calls to their Self Assessment helpline (0300 200 3310) between 12 June and 3 September 2023. The helpline will re-open on 4 September

HMRC say almost any task that can be actioned, or query that can be resolved on the phone, can also be sorted via webchat.

Self Assessment webchat is currently open from 8.00am to 7.30pm Monday to Friday and 8.00am to 4pm on Saturday.

VastOctopi

Just an update - I managed to finally speak to an adviser via webchat. They informed me that they couldn't deal with the 20/21 financial year as it is too long ago, but they waived the penalties for 21/22 (approx £700) and I don't need to submit a return for 21/22 or 22/23. They also informed me that I should submit a paper return for 20/21 along with an appeal form explaining that I did not have any income, apparently that falls under "reasonable excuse" (to my surprise) and then the penalties for that year will be waived too. It's a huge relief as I was worried about it racking up to thousands, I still have to wait to hear back about the appeal result but the adviser reassured me it will be okay. I also need to sort out the online self assessment issues but at least I have some time to go through that now without the penalties looming over me.

I've seen lots of talk online about HMRC being really helpful and I have to say, once you can reach them, they are really great to deal with. It's just the technical issues and long wait times (presumably staffing issues) that are a bother.

Happy to come out of this with a win though! And of course thanks for all the advice and comments