P800 and underpaying income tax

cherry76

Received P800 this am and owing HMRC £272.20. I did receive interests from banks and building society totalling £2,256.81. I am allowed £1000 interest free and according to my calculations I should be owing HMRC £251.36 not £272.20. Should I query it, only a small difference? What’s the best what to contact HMRC? Thanks

Dazed_and_C0nfused

A P800 is to calculate tax due (or overpaid) on all taxable income, not just one specific thing.

If you earned (job, pensions ect) more than £5,000 above your Personal Allowance then all the interest should have been taxed, albeit the first £1,000 at 0%.

Have HMRC used a different interest figure in the P800 or is there a different reason for the additional £21?

NB.  Most people on PAYE owed £1-2 which is often ignored but not when extra tax is owed.  So you are unlikely to ever get down to £251.36 irrespective of what has happened with the interest figures.  £253 is a more realistic amount that would be owed.

RG2015

cherry76 said:

Received P800 this am and owing HMRC £272.20. I did receive interests from banks and building society totalling £2,256.81. I am allowed £1000 interest free and according to my calculations I should be owing HMRC £251.36 not £272.20. Should I query it, only a small difference? What’s the best what to contact HMRC? Thanks

Does your P800 give a figure for your interest? It sounds like they have a figure of £2,361 for your interest received which is £104 greater than your figure.

I prefer to speak to HMRC on the phone. Their waiting times can be well over 30 minutes if you choose the wrong time. I avoid phoning after after 8:30 am and any time on Monday to Wednesday.

When I have phoned at 7:55 am on Thursday I have normally been speaking to someone within 5 to 10 minutes. I have also found the staff excellent and I would be confident that the missing £104 could be found quite quickly.

Clearly this requires that you have a detailed list of every bank account that paid you any interest during the tax year.

Alternatively you could write to them requesting a full detailed list of their total figure. 

eskbanker

cherry76 said:

Received P800 this am and owing HMRC £272.20. I did receive interests from banks and building society totalling £2,256.81. I am allowed £1000 interest free and according to my calculations I should be owing HMRC £251.36 not £272.20. Should I query it, only a small difference? What’s the best what to contact HMRC? Thanks

When added to income from other sources, did the interest tip you over the higher tax threshold perhaps?