Can I opt in to Self Assessment?

moongarden

I calculated my tax at the end of financial year 06/07 (around end of May) and found that I had overpaid tax to HMRC in the region of £350. This was because i'd not used my tax allowance for three months as I was out of the country for 3 months doing VSO with zero income during that time.

I've been asking for a refund since May - I applied in person P60 in hand and was told they needed a P11D from a previous employer. Next time I visited the tax office in June they admitted that HMRC have received the P11D from the previous employer at the end of May. I have been chasing them on a monthly basis since then and I went into their offices in December only to be told that the P11D is not on the system yet and if I want my money back any time soon I should contact my old employer and get a copy of the P11D so I can take it in there in person!!!

This brings me to my question in the title, as I am currently working contract - sometimes having 2 jobs at the same time and sometimes not working, would I be better off opting in to Self Assessment and calculating it myself? (bearing in mind that I calculate my tax and NI on a quarterly basis anyway to check the agency are taking the right amount!)

thanks

fengirl_2

You can't opt into SA unless you are self employed, are a company director, have a lot of investment income or have complicated affairs. I wouldn't get involved for anything as once you are in the system it seems to be very hard to get out of it and you are stuck with making annual returns or face fines.
Regarding your repayment, I would send a very strongly worded letter to your tax office requesting repayment within 30 days or you will make a formal complaint. In future, make sure you get on the right PAYE code number during the tax year because, as you have found out, you are in a long queue for repayments.

moongarden

thanks for the advices - i was away from September to December but unfortunately I was taxed at month1 rate for the rest of the year as I work contract (although still PAYE).

I had summed up the entire Gross amount I earned for the financial year and also added up all the tax I paid and looked at that along with my tax code in a spreadsheet I found that I had still overpaid. From July to Sept I also had a second job which was taxed on basic rate - just to complicate matters!!

Hoddie_2

Yes you can opt in to SA. Phone your tax office and ask for this. They will set a signal on the system to ensure you receive a form every year, to cancel this you need to send them a letter explaining you no longer wish to complete SA returns.

HMRC will have received the P11D by end of first week in July, but as is reasonable they're not processed immediately. The quickest way to claim a repayment is to send a P60 or P45 to cover each employment within the year, together with all relevant P11Ds and a covering letter. SA is not necessary, and certainly at this time of year will unlikely result in a repayment any quicker.

moongarden

thanks Hoddie. They have told me they received the P11D on 19th May 2007 but unfortunately my copy was posted to an old address by my previous employer. I have the two relevant P60/P45s from the period and I visited the HMRC office with these in June 07.

I'm going to write a formal letter at the weekend to ask them to sort this out.