Self Assessment Calculation & HMRC contact as POA

Warslet

I completed a SA form in July of this year for the tax year 2023/24 as a POA for my mother-in-law as her savings interest exceeded £10,000.  I received a calculation from HMRC yesterday for the tax year 23/24 confirming my figures except the interest I included on the SA form is not in the calculation. The  calculation shows a tax overpayment of £889.60 which I received by cheque this morning.  The letter accompanying the calculation also confirmed there was a tax overpayment but no reference to the interest from savings.  She is a standard rate tax payer with pension income of £25397.
I also received a separate letter yesterday stating that the last SA tax return I'll need to complete is for the year ended 5 April 2024 and asking me to sign into my online SA account (which I am unable to do as I have POA) if I've sent all the outstanding tax returns, paid any money owed or if HMRC owe money.  The letter also states that if I need to fill in a tax return in the future I will have to register for SA again. I thought HMRC sent a SA form each year for completion one registered. 
As this was my first SA form for my MIL will they write separately for the tax due on savings or will I have to call them as I cannot use online as a POA. 

Thank you. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Warslet said:

I completed a SA form in July of this year for the tax year 2023/24 as a POA for my mother-in-law as her savings interest exceeded £10,000.  I received a calculation from HMRC yesterday for the tax year 23/24 confirming my figures except the interest I included on the SA form is not in the calculation. The  calculation shows a tax overpayment of £889.60 which I received by cheque this morning.  The letter accompanying the calculation also confirmed there was a tax overpayment but no reference to the interest from savings.  She is a standard rate tax payer with pension income of £25397.
I also received a separate letter yesterday stating that the last SA tax return I'll need to complete is for the year ended 5 April 2024 and asking me to sign into my online SA account (which I am unable to do as I have POA) if I've sent all the outstanding tax returns, paid any money owed or if HMRC owe money.  The letter also states that if I need to fill in a tax return in the future I will have to register for SA again. I thought HMRC sent a SA form each year for completion one registered. 
As this was my first SA form for my MIL will they write separately for the tax due on savings or will I have to call them as I cannot use online as a POA. 

Thank you. 

Your post is a bit confusing as sometimes you are referring to your mother-in-law's tax affairs and at other times you are making it sound like your own tax affairs.

Dealing with you m-i-l, what is the calculation you received yesterday called?  There might be a code somewhere at the bottom, SA302, PA302 or P800.

Which box on the return did you enter the interest in?

Was it a paper return?

Is there anything in the calculation that either looks odd or doesn't match the return you completed for your m-i-l?

masonic

They do take people of SA if they don't meet the criteria and look unlikely to do so in the future. But there seems to be something a bit odd in this case. Are you able to check that the interest has definitely been entered in the correct section of the return? Perhaps the return and tax calculation have crossed? Was the savings interest earned within a concierge service like Raisin or HL Active Savings, where it may not have been attributed directly to her in the annual returns HMRC receives? It would be strange for them not to know about any of £10k+ interest!

Warslet

Thank you thank you both for your replies. My post refers to my MIL’s tax affairs. Apologies if unclear. The form has a UTR reference and is a Self Assessment: Tax calculation. No other refs. The calculation matches mine except for the missing interest.  The Total Income for the tax calculation is her pension credits less her personal allowance, nothing else. It was a paper return and I entered it under Income: Divis and int from UK banks and B/Soc section under untaxed interest. 

The interest was from B/Society accounts which had interest paid away to help with Care Home fees. 

I appreciate your replies. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Warslet said:

Thank you thank you both for your replies. My post refers to my MIL’s tax affairs. Apologies if unclear. The form has a UTR reference and is a Self Assessment: Tax calculation. No other refs. The calculation matches mine except for the missing interest.  The Total Income for the tax calculation is her pension credits less her personal allowance, nothing else. It was a paper return and I entered it under Income: Divis and int from UK banks and B/Soc section under untaxed interest. 

The interest was from B/Society accounts which had interest paid away to help with Care Home fees. 

I appreciate your replies. 

In that case I think you need to do two things,

1.  Contact HMRC and explain that they have made an error processing the paper return and omitted the interest income.  As such you need a corrected calculation for your m-i-l.  And, ideally, an apology from HMRC.

2.  Decide if you want to bank the cheque (for your m-i-l) and have more to pay in January or return the cheque so your m-i-l has less to pay in January.  An MSE approach to this is probably to bank the cheque and then your m-i-l can earn some interest on it between now and January but that might not sit comfortably with some people.  It might be less hassle as well to simply bank it (for your m-i-l) and pay more in January.

SkylineExplorer

It sounds like HMRC might have missed the savings interest in their calculation. You’ll likely need to call them to clarify, especially as you can’t use the online account as a POA.

They should be able to confirm if the interest will be handled separately. HMRC can be a bit confusing with SA returns, but they should sort it for you

best!

Dazed_and_C0nfused

SkylineExplorer said:

It sounds like HMRC might have missed the savings interest in their calculation. You’ll likely need to call them to clarify, especially as you can’t use the online account as a POA.

They should be able to confirm if the interest will be handled separately. HMRC can be a bit confusing with SA returns, but they should sort it for you

best!

It won't be handled separately, it should be part of the Self Assessment calculation.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

JamesRobinson48 said:

It seems a bit peculiar that HMRC omitted such a large amount of interest, given that the amounts would anyhow have been reported to them direct by the various savings institutions.  I assume her money is held in savings accounts in her own name (subject to your POA)?

I don't think that is a factor to be honest.

Carelessness by the person processing the paper return is (sadly) far more likely.

eskbanker

Warslet said:

I completed a SA form in July of this year for the tax year 2023/24 as a POA for my mother-in-law as her savings interest exceeded £10,000.  I received a calculation from HMRC yesterday for the tax year 23/24 confirming my figures except the interest I included on the SA form is not in the calculation. The  calculation shows a tax overpayment of £889.60 which I received by cheque this morning.  The letter accompanying the calculation also confirmed there was a tax overpayment but no reference to the interest from savings.  She is a standard rate tax payer with pension income of £25397. 

Warslet said:

The calculation matches mine except for the missing interest.  The Total Income for the tax calculation is her pension credits less her personal allowance, nothing else. It was a paper return and I entered it under Income: Divis and int from UK banks and B/Soc section under untaxed interest.

If HMRC based their calculation solely on pension income, which will presumably have been taxed via PAYE, where does the overpayment come from?  I'm conscious that PAYE codings aren't always going to achieve 100% accurate deductions - does she have multiple pensions perhaps?  Do you have sight of her tax calculation for the previous year?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

eskbanker said:

Warslet said:

I completed a SA form in July of this year for the tax year 2023/24 as a POA for my mother-in-law as her savings interest exceeded £10,000.  I received a calculation from HMRC yesterday for the tax year 23/24 confirming my figures except the interest I included on the SA form is not in the calculation. The  calculation shows a tax overpayment of £889.60 which I received by cheque this morning.  The letter accompanying the calculation also confirmed there was a tax overpayment but no reference to the interest from savings.  She is a standard rate tax payer with pension income of £25397. 

Warslet said:

The calculation matches mine except for the missing interest.  The Total Income for the tax calculation is her pension credits less her personal allowance, nothing else. It was a paper return and I entered it under Income: Divis and int from UK banks and B/Soc section under untaxed interest.

If HMRC based their calculation solely on pension income, which will presumably have been taxed via PAYE, where does the overpayment come from?  I'm conscious that PAYE codings aren't always going to achieve 100% accurate deductions - does she have multiple pensions perhaps?  Do you have sight of her tax calculation for the previous year?

My guess would be that some extra tax was being collected using an estimated interest figure in the 2023-24 tax code.

And as HMRC have seemingly made a right mess of processing her tax return and completely omitted the interest then that extra tax has now been refunded.

Warslet

Thanks again everyone for the comments. The interest received and subject to SA is from funds in her own name. I am registered as POA for all of them including her current account. HMRC also made the cheque payable to me with no reference to my MIL or me as POA on the cheque. Perhaps that is normal but would have thought payee would be my MIL.  I think your assumption is correct @ Dazed_and_C0nfused about a previous year's estimated interest as there was an amount on her Notice of Coding. There is no reference to this on the SA calculation. I will call them tomorrow and give an update which may be useful to someone else in a similar position. I too find it odd that they haven't noted interest reported to them.  Last year she received in excess of £4500 which was reported correctly and was on her Notice of Coding.