Employer has not paid my PAYE deductions to HMRC

Duckhouse

My deductions have been removed from my wages every month since January 2014 but on the Government Gateway I have not been employed and they have not received my Tax or NI. Obviously my employer refuses to acknowledge as he is the one not paying them and keeping the money. I am missing all these years now towards my pension and HMRC have me listed as not employed. Yet every day I work 8am - 5pm with godawful treatment from customers. I am terrified HMRC are going to expect me to pay again to cover the payments they have not received which adds up to thousands I do not have. Someone please help.

MyRealNameToo

Step one, look at your payslip and check your NI number is correct and matches that of your online account.

monkey-fingers

First step is, I would suggest, ACAS.
https://www.acas.org.uk/contact

They can deal with this confidentially and help you with next steps.

On-the-coast

Do you have coworkers?
If their affairs are being reported correctly to hmrc, it’s most likely an error (like a mistyped ni number) that can be corrected 

monkey-fingers

On-the-coast said:

Do you have coworkers?
If their affairs are being reported correctly to hmrc, it’s most likely an error (like a mistyped ni number) that can be corrected 

That's a good point. Mine was wrong for a number of years. I got it fixed and they backdated it all.
Particularly my pension!

BrimfulofSascha

have you been receiving a P60 annually?

Savvy_Sue

Duckhouse said:

I am terrified HMRC are going to expect me to pay again to cover the payments they have not received which adds up to thousands I do not have. Someone please help.

Nope, that's not how it works. It's your employer they go after. However, if a company hasn't been paying what it owes to HMRC for a number of years, they're not likely to last long after HMRC finds out, so given that you're not happy in the job I would be looking for a new one. 

Yes, do check your details are correct. If that doesn't resolve things, you might find https://www.litrg.org.uk/ helpful - there's someone from there who posts quite regularly. 

Exodi

Savvy_Sue said:

Duckhouse said:

I am terrified HMRC are going to expect me to pay again to cover the payments they have not received which adds up to thousands I do not have. Someone please help.

Nope, that's not how it works. It's your employer they go after. However, if a company hasn't been paying what it owes to HMRC for a number of years, they're not likely to last long after HMRC finds out, so given that you're not happy in the job I would be looking for a new one. 

I think technically the employee is always ultimately liable for their own underpaid tax, however in this circumstance (with tax deducted from pay, as shown on payslips) I agree HMRC are almost certainly likely to pursue the employer, including potentially forced insolvency.

@Duckhouse It's somewhat surprising that you haven't noticed this for 11 years, and if anything serves as a good advert for opening a personal tax account and checking it every now and then ( https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account ). Have you received a P60? It might be a bit hard to broach, but any idea if it's the same situation with other employees? If so, it's incredulous that not a single person has noticed.

I think if you can confirm fraud has happened (that is, your employer and HMRC both have the same NI number), I'd contact HMRC and explain the situation. You will really want them on side with this. 

I don't know if there is any value in contacting ACAS, though as they say from their website under 'Income Tax and National Insurance deductions' : "If an employer is not passing on these contributions, you can contact the HMRC helpline. "

kinger101

The employee would only be liable if they had good  reason to believe the employer was not paying the tax over to HMRC and ignored it 

HMRC would be able to check if you've given the name of the employer (as it appears on your payslip).  This will quickly identify whether it's ad administrative error or theft.  If the latter, I would start looking for a new employer.
 

Duckhouse

Hi thank you all for suggestions. I would like to point out, I only checked my Government Gateway after a colleague left and found no record of their payments. When you receive a payslip each month showing your PAYE deductions you have no reason to think they are not going to HMRC, i.e. the place they should be. It has happened to other employees and as HMRC have no record, if I look for another job, will I be put on emergency tax? 

MeteredOut

Duckhouse said:

Hi thank you all for suggestions. I would like to point out, I only checked my Government Gateway after a colleague left and found no record of their payments. When you receive a payslip each month showing your PAYE deductions you have no reason to think they are not going to HMRC, i.e. the place they should be. It has happened to other employees and as HMRC have no record, if I look for another job, will I be put on emergency tax? 

If you're payslip indicates tax and NI is going to HMRC, then you've done nothing wrong, and HMRC should be going after the employer, but as hinted at above, strictly, we are each responsible for ensuring our own taxes are paid. Is HMRC investigating the issue? Have your colleagues/former colleagues also contacted HMRC?

You haven't answered whether you've been getting a P60 each year.

How big is the employer? Have you checked financial records at companies house?

Looking for a job alone should not change your tax code? I'd certainly be doing that, as there's a good chance the employer will attempt to shut down the business once HMRC go after them.