Zopa mistake

RG2015

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

They did this a couple of years ago when they had just launched their ISA.  I moved my ISA away at that point

Yes, it was the same for me in April 2024. However, unlike for the current reports, Zopa admitted this immediately.

I got an email from them saying that they had made a mistake and corrected it. I don’t know if they reported incorrectly to HMRC, but I was not adversely affected in 2023/2024.

CHILL_FACTOR

Same has happened to me. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to contact HMRC 3 times, spending an hour each time waiting to speak to someone. To finally be told there’s nothing they can do. They know the issue but they can’t fix it yet, I have to just wait.
the issue is I have a notification saying I owe money, and I know my tax code will just change if I don’t pay it.  It’s very frustrating.

fredblessed

I got this sorted after two calls to HMRC. They are aware of the issue (lots of people affected) and are working with Zopa to fix it for everyone. In my case I had been saving up for a 'turnip in the country' so my tax code was completely messed up. HMRC were very nice about it and have amended the estimated interest for the current tax year so my code has gone back to what it was. Hopefully, Zopa will get this right next year? Third time lucky?

aJayMitchell

For info, I raised a complaint with Zopa via their online chat a few days ago. They've flagged that a 'small number of customers' have been affected.

They say that they've provided HMRC the correct information on 7th October, but it appears HMRC have not fully processed this yet. They accept that they haven't informed customers and that the first customers are finding out about the issue is via HMRC.

Interestingly, they've offered £150 in compensation - so if you've had this issue, it's worth raising a complaint.

I won't be accepting until I can have it confirmed that the issue has been fully resolved.

RG2015

aJayMitchell said:

For info, I raised a complaint with Zopa via their online chat a few days ago. They've flagged that a 'small number of customers' have been affected.

They say that they've provided HMRC the correct information on 7th October, but it appears HMRC have not fully processed this yet. They accept that they haven't informed customers and that the first customers are finding out about the issue is via HMRC.

Interestingly, they've offered £150 in compensation - so if you've had this issue, it's worth raising a complaint.

I won't be accepting until I can have it confirmed that the issue has been fully resolved.

Many on here would take the money immediately. Then, if the issue wasn't fully resolved there would be a case for more.

PS: Unfortunately Zopa have correctly reported my interest.

_JasonR

My journey so far...

I had contacted HMRC in early November and discovered there was something not right with the amount I was being taxed. Through many hours on calls with HMRC I worked out that Zopa had reported my ISA as taxable interest. It emerged that this was a double whammy as the ISA interest was being reported both as a taxable interest estimate for the current year (deducted at source from my salary), plus as a ‘underpaid’ tax demand for the last tax year (FY 24/25).

HRMC did initially remove the ‘ISA tax’ from the current year estimate, but a couple of weeks later, I received another tax code change notification and found it had resurfaced again just in time for the next payroll, leaving me short. HMRC say that the systems refreshed and overwrote the correction that had been made. The correction has been re-applied again, but HMRC say that the way the system is configured, it may be overwritten again and they have no control over it! As for the tax demand for last year, HMRC have so far refused to recalculate / correct it as they say that they will only do this if revised data is provided by Zopa. Meanwhile, Zopa say that they have supplied revised data but there is an issue with HMRC being able to process it.

I felt sure I could not be alone in my experiences and came across this forum. From what I read, the problems have been recurring for around 2 years and are particular to Zopa. It strikes me as unusual that all Zopa savings products share the same account number, and are a mixture of taxable and non-taxable accounts. I wonder if that has something to do with it?

In recent conversations with both Zopa and HMRC, both have acknowledged that there is a known problem, but what is missing is any commitment on when matters will be resolved, or on any kind of ’workaround’ to prevent customers suffering in the meantime. Right now, I am left financially short and wasting many hours on the phone seemingly banging my head against a brick wall!

RG2015

HMRC understated my untaxed interest by £529 for 24/25. This was on my P800 which I received online last week.

I phoned them and we went through each individual savings account. I have several Zopa accounts including ISA and non ISA accounts. However HMRC only quoted two and the ISA accounts were not included. My ISA interest was substantial so there was no problem here. 

After seeing this thread I am obviously relieved that Zopa have got my interest correct.

I now realise that I don’t actually have several Zopa accounts but I do have several pots. There are only two accounts, a current account and a Smart Saver. My Smart Saver has ISAs and non ISAs. The non ISA has a regular saver and two instant saver pots, and HMRC added these together. Crucially, the ISA interest on my Smart Saver account was correctly excluded by HMRC.

And finally just for information, the £529 HMRC understatement was because they did not have interest for my RBS, First Direct and Nationwide accounts. So the mistake was with three established banks and the new bank was 100% correct.

masonic

_JasonR said:

My journey so far...

I had contacted HMRC in early November and discovered there was something not right with the amount I was being taxed. Through many hours on calls with HMRC I worked out that Zopa had reported my ISA as taxable interest. It emerged that this was a double whammy as the ISA interest was being reported both as a taxable interest estimate for the current year (deducted at source from my salary), plus as a ‘underpaid’ tax demand for the last tax year (FY 24/25).

HRMC did initially remove the ‘ISA tax’ from the current year estimate, but a couple of weeks later, I received another tax code change notification and found it had resurfaced again just in time for the next payroll, leaving me short. HMRC say that the systems refreshed and overwrote the correction that had been made. The correction has been re-applied again, but HMRC say that the way the system is configured, it may be overwritten again and they have no control over it! As for the tax demand for last year, HMRC have so far refused to recalculate / correct it as they say that they will only do this if revised data is provided by Zopa. Meanwhile, Zopa say that they have supplied revised data but there is an issue with HMRC being able to process it.

I felt sure I could not be alone in my experiences and came across this forum. From what I read, the problems have been recurring for around 2 years and are particular to Zopa. It strikes me as unusual that all Zopa savings products share the same account number, and are a mixture of taxable and non-taxable accounts. I wonder if that has something to do with it?

In recent conversations with both Zopa and HMRC, both have acknowledged that there is a known problem, but what is missing is any commitment on when matters will be resolved, or on any kind of ’workaround’ to prevent customers suffering in the meantime. Right now, I am left financially short and wasting many hours on the phone seemingly banging my head against a brick wall!

Savings pots under a main account seem to be a feature of several new providers (Plum does something similar), but it is for Zopa to know what is ISA and what is not and report accordingly to HMRC. At some level, the ISA needs to be managed as a separate account to be compliant with the regulations.

Clearly the failure has had a real impact on your finances, so that should be reflected in the compensation you are offered by Zopa. Perhaps more than the £150 mentioned a few posts up, given the tax coding consequences.

Gresteg

I was also advised by HMRC they where resolving this issue a couple of weeks ago and not to worry as they had until April to fix it.
Today I received a letter from them with an amended tax code from November 25. Therefore my December pay will be reduced due to this error by Zopa. Looks like they haven’t resolved it.
Interestingly Zopa haven’t yet told me about the issue of sending HMRC the wrong information.

Shambles.