Received self assesment form?

andrew_savva

I received a letter from HMRC regarding a self assesment return I need to fill in online.

Im not 100% sure why they have sent me this letter and I can't get through to the Self assesment department when I call (90 min wait and a 65minute wait in the queue)

Long story short a lady who works for a legal firm was in the break out area of my work place (A big bus garage) selling us services etc.

She was telling us drivers she is capable of recovering money from the tax man for things such as travel expenses and uniform expenses etc...

A few of my colleagues said she was legit, and had managed to grlet them 2k or thereabouts from the tax man.

I initially went ahead so gave her my details, but within 48 hours of giving her my ID and other such info, I had a change of heart and called her to cancel. She confirmed she had now closed my case.

Has she put me down as being self employed possibly??

Im very very worried, one thing I really dont want to do is mess around with tax. Ive been fully employed by my bus company and haven't ever been self employed.

I can't get through to a human to speak to them about my case and what may or may not be going on, I'm stuck and fully of anxiety. I don't want to get any sort of fine at all and Im desperate to resolve the issue.

So 2 things, what else can I do if they dont answer the phone.. and what could this lady have done with signing up to hmrc account on my behalf? Could she have registered me as being self employed, thus making me pay less in tax on each payslip from Jan until present day???

Im very lost.

Ozzig

Can't help much, but you don't need to be self employed to do self assessment. I've submitted in the past for AMAP / uniform and WFH stuff.

Phoenix72

If you have signed that company up as your tax agent then they are probably going to put a dodgy expenses claim in on your behalf. You don't need to be self-employed to receive a tax return but it's easier for an unscrupulous agent to file a tax return on your behalf than the non tax return route.

Try 8 in the morning to get through to HMRC and get them to remove any agent on your record

andrew_savva

What happens if I were to just ignore the letter as the company didn't claim any money on my behalf.

I mean I will ring on my next day off during the week, which will be in about 2 weeks time.

greatkingrat

If you ignore it, then eventually you will start getting fines for not submitting the return.

[Deleted User]

andrew_savva said:

What happens if I were to just ignore the letter as the company didn't claim any money on my behalf.

I mean I will ring on my next day off during the week, which will be in about 2 weeks time.

You have received a notice to file. Ignore it and you will incur penalties. 

Either complete it (preferably before this ‘agent’ does so first)  or contact HMRC to request that the notice to file is withdrawn (they might not agree).

Ozzig

You might be able to remove it using online personal tax account ...

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/change-or-remove-your-tax-agents-authorisation
Mentions ...

How to remove agent authorisation online

You can remove agent authorisation online using your business tax account or your personal tax account.

Phoenix72

andrew_savva said:

What happens if I were to just ignore the letter as the company didn't claim any money on my behalf.

Haven't yet, if they have been informed of your UTR then they are likely to then take their 'fee' leaving youbliable to repay the full amount back.

It's no coincidence that the Tax Return has been issued after you gave this person your details.

andrew_savva

Since receiving the Self assessment tax return form I phoned HMRC Self Assement helpline to tell them I wanted them to close my file/remove me from self assessment.

I called them at 5pm today, discussed my request with Mr N** T*** of the Self Assessment team. I explained the situation with him and he explained to me that my appointed agent probably started an attempt to claim tax back on my behalf over various years, starting from the 2019/2020 tax year.  Once he confirmed my identity, he informed me he could close the self assessment case for the tax year 23-24.

He then also informed me he could close my case for the tax years: 20/21, 21/22 as well as 22/23.   However, he told me he was unable to close 2019/2020 self assessment case and that I would need to write a short letter requesting for the case to be closed for that year also (2019/20).

Does this sound normal?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

andrew_savva said:

Since receiving the Self assessment tax return form I phoned HMRC Self Assement helpline to tell them I wanted them to close my file/remove me from self assessment.

I called them at 5pm today, discussed my request with Mr xxxx xxxxxx of the Self Assessment team. I explained the situation with him and he explained to me that my appointed agent probably started an attempt to claim tax back on my behalf over various years, starting from the 2019/2020 tax year.  Once he confirmed my identity, he informed me he could close the self assessment case for the tax year 23-24.

He then also informed me he could close my case for the tax years: 20/21, 21/22 as well as 22/23.   However, he told me he was unable to close 2019/2020 self assessment case and that I would need to write a short letter requesting for the case to be closed for that year also (2019/20).

Does this sound normal?

No, it sounds like a monumental waste of civil servants time 😳.

Phoenix72

Not good form to name the person you spoke to