Tax bill after bankruptcy

alextheg

Hi folks, hope everyone is well and had a good Christmas 

After some advice from you knowledgeable people please. I declared BR in May of 2024, released in May 2025. Life has been so much better and the whole process was far easier to live with than id expected. Ive kept up to date with all my payments including my IPA.

As expected my tax code changed to NT at the end of October 2025, so for 23 weeks i paid the tax amount straight to the OR. This totalled £2898.  Tax code swiftly returned to normal at the start of the 2025 - 2026 tax year.

Late 2025 i received a letter requesting that i complete a tax return, thought this was odd as ive not been self employed since June 2022. In December 2025 i completed the return online using the information from my P60 as im full time PAYE.

Ive now received a bill from HMRC for the sum of you guessed it ....... £2898, payable by Jan 31st 2026. i called HMRC today and hit a brick wall basically. They say the amount is payable but have sent a referral to the HMRC BR team. Im told to expect a reply by January 2027 as they are a small team !

Its pretty clear that the bill represents the amount i paid to the OR. Obviously now im worried about the bill hanging over my head until HMRC sort this out. Do any of you good people have any advice on other steps i can take ? coughing up £2898 in my present situation is not an option.

Thanks in advance.

Woodstok2000

Not an expert, but it seems strange the return was done online...

"All returns for the year of bankruptcy must be submitted manually. Returns for this period cannot be submitted online."

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/self-assessment-manual/sam121270

alextheg

Thanks for the reply. I was unaware of this. Any suggestions on how I might proceed ?

Woodstok2000

I would suggest contacting hmrc to explain that it was done in error and see if they can 'cancel' the online self assessment, then getting some help to do the paper one if needed (not sure why it would be if you are paye) . 

alextheg

Sounds like it may be worth a try. 

Does an here at the forum have any contact details for the HMRC department relevant to tax returns for bankruptcy cases ?

Woodstok2000

This seems to be the best number: 0300 322 9209

ManyWays

also tell your OR or Trustee in bankruptcy

alextheg

Woodstok2000 said:

This seems to be the best number: 0300 322 9209

Much appreciated, thanks. I’ll try them and see where I get