Question around HMRC overpayments

graymic

I know this is probably a question for HMRC. But has anyone come across this issue before.

I filed my self assessment earlier in the year (about 5 months ago now). It had calculated I had overpaid a fair bit in taxes (this is also because I work as a sole trader in my spare time - photography / audio visual conlsultant).

None the less, let's say for namesake I had overpaid £5,000. It was stuck at this for the past 5 months. What I've heard is, it's backlogged due to COVID and this has taken ages for them to reimburse overpayments.

Well, today I login, to find that the self assessment page still says overpayment of £5,000. But on another page within HMRC (Overpayment from tax return for tax year ending 05 Apr 2023) it says £2,000 all of a sudden, where before it says £5,000.

Has anyone seen this before, as it makes zero sense when checking the other screens. There's nowhere in the portal that would state a sudden drop of that amount?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Well, today I login, to find that the self assessment page still says overpayment of £5,000. But on another page within HMRC (Overpayment from tax return for tax year ending 05 Apr 2023) it says £2,000 all of a sudden, where before it says £5,000.

Can you be more specific about where this is shown within your account?

Two possibilities spring to mind, HMRC have found an obvious error with your return and have changed it (which they can do in some situations).

Your PAYE record and Self Assessment record aren't connected as they should be and both systems are trying to dela with the same tax year.  Which definitely shouldn't happen.  If you have filed a Self Assessment return that should mean a PAYE review isn't required.

Which would basically mean the £2,000 is irrelevant and needs to be got rid of.