Self assessment payment reminders

bhups2k

These payment reminders are always a pain in the pit of my stomach.. 

They send these reminders out even if you have paid them!

There is no simple way to check if these have been paid already if they were done early in the year.

On the email there is a way opt to not to remind me for the year, but the system should be able to log a history of all payments made and change the status on the page to say it's been paid instead of saying we still need to pay it.

If we have paid double, there is no where to show this either. 

Please could we request that HMRC put this in place?

You have the power to push these requests so I'm not sure who else to ask. 

Please reply yes or something to help get votes on this...

Thank you 

eskbanker

bhups2k said:

...the system should be able to log a history of all payments made...

It does - there's a 'view payment history' option within the self-assessment section of the HMRC app, and an equivalent 'view payments/credits' on the website.

bhups2k

eskbanker said:

bhups2k said:

...the system should be able to log a history of all payments made...

It does - there's a 'view payment history' option within the self-assessment section of the HMRC app, and an equivalent 'view payments/credits' on the website.

You are correct. 

I guess in a panic I just didn't look properly... 

But they really need to change this notice message:

Your balance

    You need to pay xxxx by 31 January 2025.

    52 days left

dosh37

I am in total agreement with the OP.

I recently submitted my Self Assessment return after receiving several email reminders from HMRC.

I was unable to submit my Tax return earlier because HMRC failed to respond to my request for BBSI information until December. This is despite two letters from me requesting the information earlier in the year and despite HMRC stating that savings organisations need to submit interest information before the end of June.

After I eventually received the requested BBSI information (no less than 33 savings interest records), I was able to reconcile the figures, submitted the return and paid the tax due via debit card.

I received an email giving payment confirmation on Dec 6th.

On Dec 10th I received another email - 'Our records show that you need to pay your Self Assessment tax bill' etc.

HMRC are incompetent and don't bother to check before demanding payment!

Dazed_and_C0nfused

dosh37 said:

I am in total agreement with the OP.

I recently submitted my Self Assessment return after receiving several email reminders from HMRC.

I was unable to submit my Tax return earlier because HMRC failed to respond to my request for BBSI information until December. This is despite two letters from me requesting the information earlier in the year and despite HMRC stating that savings organisations need to submit interest information before the end of June.

After I eventually received the requested BBSI information (no less than 33 savings interest records), I was able to reconcile the figures, submitted the return and paid the tax due via debit card.

I received an email giving payment confirmation on Dec 6th.

On Dec 10th I received another email - 'Our records show that you need to pay your Self Assessment tax bill' etc.

HMRC are incompetent and don't bother to check before demanding payment!

Or maybe they have to check 10 million+ cases and cannot get every one perfectly on time?

eskbanker

dosh37 said:

I was unable to submit my Tax return earlier because HMRC failed to respond to my request for BBSI information until December. This is despite two letters from me requesting the information earlier in the year and despite HMRC stating that savings organisations need to submit interest information before the end of June.

After I eventually received the requested BBSI information (no less than 33 savings interest records), I was able to reconcile the figures...

The fact that the BBSI rules oblige savings providers to submit their returns by the end of June ("unless otherwise stated in [their] notice") doesn't mean that they all comply with this, and even if/when they do, there's a vast amount of matching/processing/allocating/etc to be done by HMRC, so it'll generally be quite a while after that before HMRC are able to replay the relevant data back to any given taxpayer.

However, if you were keeping the requisite records yourself, why not submit your self-assessment based on those and leave the responsibility of the BBSI reconciliation to HMRC?  It's obviously your prerogative to mirror that process but it does inevitably delay your submission....

DRS1

Am I alone in only paying HMRC in January?
What I resent about the reminders is that the money is not due yet so why remind me now?  Why would I pay them early?  Do they give a good interest rate for early payment?

eskbanker

DRS1 said:

Am I alone in only paying HMRC in January?
What I resent about the reminders is that the money is not due yet so why remind me now?  Why would I pay them early?  Do they give a good interest rate for early payment?

No, you're not alone, and I imagine there'll be plenty on this money-saving site who leave payment until as late as possible - after all, why not earn something from the money rather than donating it to HMRC to do so?!

dosh37

eskbanker said:

dosh37 said:

I was unable to submit my Tax return earlier because HMRC failed to respond to my request for BBSI information until December. This is despite two letters from me requesting the information earlier in the year and despite HMRC stating that savings organisations need to submit interest information before the end of June.

After I eventually received the requested BBSI information (no less than 33 savings interest records), I was able to reconcile the figures...

The fact that the BBSI rules oblige savings providers to submit their returns by the end of June ("unless otherwise stated in [their] notice") doesn't mean that they all comply with this, and even if/when they do, there's a vast amount of matching/processing/allocating/etc to be done by HMRC, so it'll generally be quite a while after that before HMRC are able to replay the relevant data back to any given taxpayer.

However, if you were keeping the requisite records yourself, why not submit your self-assessment based on those and leave the responsibility of the BBSI reconciliation to HMRC?  It's obviously your prerogative to mirror that process but it does inevitably delay your submission....

I don't see why it should be my responsibility to tell HMRC what I think I owe them.

If I buy goods from a shop, the shopkeeper tells me what I need to pay.

The shopkeeper doesn't ask me to tell them how much I think I should pay.

HMRC already knows how much pension income I receive. They also know the savings interest I receive. Why should I have to spend time and effort filling out a Self Assessment return when they already have all the necessary information? IMHO the system is total madness!

eskbanker

dosh37 said:

eskbanker said:

dosh37 said:

I was unable to submit my Tax return earlier because HMRC failed to respond to my request for BBSI information until December. This is despite two letters from me requesting the information earlier in the year and despite HMRC stating that savings organisations need to submit interest information before the end of June.

After I eventually received the requested BBSI information (no less than 33 savings interest records), I was able to reconcile the figures...

The fact that the BBSI rules oblige savings providers to submit their returns by the end of June ("unless otherwise stated in [their] notice") doesn't mean that they all comply with this, and even if/when they do, there's a vast amount of matching/processing/allocating/etc to be done by HMRC, so it'll generally be quite a while after that before HMRC are able to replay the relevant data back to any given taxpayer.

However, if you were keeping the requisite records yourself, why not submit your self-assessment based on those and leave the responsibility of the BBSI reconciliation to HMRC?  It's obviously your prerogative to mirror that process but it does inevitably delay your submission....

I don't see why it should be my responsibility to tell HMRC what I think I owe them.

If I buy goods from a shop, the shopkeeper tells me what I need to pay.

The shopkeeper doesn't ask me to tell them how much I think I should pay.

HMRC already knows how much pension income I receive. They also know the savings interest I receive. Why should I have to spend time and effort filling out a Self Assessment return when they already have all the necessary information? IMHO the system is total madness!

The shop analogy doesn't fit, in that as a taxpayer it remains your responsibility to pay the correct amount of tax - while it's undoubtedly true that HMRC does have access to plenty of data that allows them to work out provisional tax liabilities for many, this certainly isn't comprehensive or integrated enough, so they ask some people to self-assess in order to declare everything.  I don't know why they ask you to self-assess though, do you fit their published criteria for doing so?

However, my point was that you could have made things easier for yourself by simply declaring your taxable income and leaving it up to them to validate it, so you didn't need to spend time and effort on chasing after HMRC!

dosh37

eskbanker said:

dosh37 said:

eskbanker said:

dosh37 said:

I was unable to submit my Tax return earlier because HMRC failed to respond to my request for BBSI information until December. This is despite two letters from me requesting the information earlier in the year and despite HMRC stating that savings organisations need to submit interest information before the end of June.

After I eventually received the requested BBSI information (no less than 33 savings interest records), I was able to reconcile the figures...

The fact that the BBSI rules oblige savings providers to submit their returns by the end of June ("unless otherwise stated in [their] notice") doesn't mean that they all comply with this, and even if/when they do, there's a vast amount of matching/processing/allocating/etc to be done by HMRC, so it'll generally be quite a while after that before HMRC are able to replay the relevant data back to any given taxpayer.

However, if you were keeping the requisite records yourself, why not submit your self-assessment based on those and leave the responsibility of the BBSI reconciliation to HMRC?  It's obviously your prerogative to mirror that process but it does inevitably delay your submission....

I don't see why it should be my responsibility to tell HMRC what I think I owe them.

If I buy goods from a shop, the shopkeeper tells me what I need to pay.

The shopkeeper doesn't ask me to tell them how much I think I should pay.

HMRC already knows how much pension income I receive. They also know the savings interest I receive. Why should I have to spend time and effort filling out a Self Assessment return when they already have all the necessary information? IMHO the system is total madness!

The shop analogy doesn't fit, in that as a taxpayer it remains your responsibility to pay the correct amount of tax - while it's undoubtedly true that HMRC does have access to plenty of data that allows them to work out provisional tax liabilities for many, this certainly isn't comprehensive or integrated enough, so they ask some people to self-assess in order to declare everything.  I don't know why they ask you to self-assess though, do you fit their published criteria for doing so?

However, my point was that you could have made things easier for yourself by simply declaring your taxable income and leaving it up to them to validate it, so you didn't need to spend time and effort on chasing after HMRC!

I realise that. You are simply stating the existing rules as defined by HMRC. What I am saying is that, in my opinon, the HMRC rules don't make sense.

The reason they require me to complete Self Assessment is that my savings income exceeds £10K - yet another arbitrary HMRC 'rule'.