HMRC - Lack of communication and income tax due.

bendipa

I have tried to register with HMRC but all efforts have so far failed. I've tried writing to them but no response. I've tried ringing, but they simply keep me hanging on the line after numerous automated questions to put me through to the correct department, then the endless wait to speak to a human being, and the wracking up of expensive phone charges, so that idea was abandoned after a 30 minute wait. Then there's trying to register online. Unfortunately, they require proof of passport and driving license. I own neither of those documents these days (both long expired) so that attempt failed.

Meanwhile, I owe HMRC over a £1000. The problem basically lies with self-assessment. Last year they sent me one of those forms for 2023/24. I completed it, paid off the tax due which was about £100 less than they reckoned, and heard no more from them. But this last tax year 2024/25 I have not received a self-assessment form despite my efforts to obtain one. So for this year I owe HMRC a little more than the previous year, and the deadline is today.

Now I have the details of my payment to them for 2023/24, including a reference they gave last time to include on the payment - I pay from my bank online. So:

a) Do I just pay HMRC, what I believe is due, using the same reference as last time,and will that be enough? or

b) Do I still need to send them a statement of all income so that they can check? or

c) Because I received no self-assessment form this year, does that mean I'm no longer registered, and as the deadline for that was 31 Oct 2025 HMRC will try to fine me for that (£300 penalty). I still have no idea whether I'm registered with them or not.

d) So what is the best thing to do under the circumstances? I realise if I don't pay the tax due HMRC could well catch up with me in future. But by paying it that will also alert them to no self-assessment form received, which I believe is their fault anyway

Woodstok2000

Do you meet the criteria shown here: https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/who-must-send-a-tax-return

eskbanker

I owe HMRC over a £1000

Have they told you this in an assessment letter, or is this just your own calculation? What has caused the underpayment?

Do you have access to your online personal tax account or are you exclusively dealing with them via paper?

Vitor

Suggest paying the estimated tax now using the existing Self Assessment reference to limit interest and show good faith. But payment alone does not settle your position. Write to HMRC by recorded delivery explaining you did not receive a 2024/25 notice, have tried repeatedly to register, and cannot use online ID checks. Ask for a paper return or confirmation SA is no longer required. Keep copies. This evidence helps mitigate any penalties.

molerat

"Recorded delivery", or simply Tracked as it is now known, is a total waste of money as they are not signed for which can in fact prove the letter was not received. Standard mail with proof of postage is sufficient proof of delivery ………. but ……….. letters sent to HMRC are taking many months to open / scan into the system let alone get actioned - a recent article is saying 45 weeks+.

bendipa

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863566#Comment_81863566

I've received no correspondence from HMRC, since they assessed me for 2023/24. I can't register online with HMRC as I don't satisfy their proof of ID requirements as explained in my OP. I've always been able to regIster with a UK bank and other financial organisations so far, but not with HMRC. 'Absurd' doesn't begin to describe it.

The tax due for 2024/25 is what I calculated. The underpayment is due to the State Pension and savings interest, that are both paid gross, and take me above all personal allowances.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863569#Comment_81863569

I had assumed that as HMRC assessed me in 2023/24 that that would imply that I was already registered with them. So surely no penalty should they claim I'm not registered. Or is there a duty for the taxpayer to register with them annually?

There is one other thing. In their blurb HMRC mention that taxpayers must send a tax return if they are self-employed traders and a few other categories I don't qualify for. They also say you may have to submit a tax return if you have untaxed income from savings, but no mention about receiving a State Pension.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863676#Comment_81863676

If someone sends a letter recorded delivery, that is proof that the letter was sent (in this case HMRC). If it doesn't reach its intended destination that's down to Royal Mail who are at fault, not the sender.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81864684#Comment_81864684

Have you checked your Personal Tax Account to see if a return has been issued for 2024/25?

You can't be fined for not filing something you haven't been asked to file.

Was your untaxed interest more than £10,000 in 2024/25? If not you don't seem to meet the criteria to even need to file a return (based on what you have posted).

Also, you refer to HMRC assessing you. But say you completed a Self Assessment return. Which was it 🤔

molerat

If someone sends a letter recorded delivery, that is proof that the letter was sent (in this case HMRC). If it doesn't reach its intended destination that's down to Royal Mail who are at fault, not the sender.

As does the free POP so why pay the extra £1.90 to prove the same point ?

bendipa

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81864702#Comment_81864702

You didn't read my OP properly. To recap, I was assessed for 2023-24, but not for 2024-25 where I now owe over £1000 in income tax due to untaxed interest, and yes, it's well over £10,000. I never received a self-assessment form for 2024-25, so no, I didn't complete one, because I assumed I was registered with HMRC and therefore they would send me a self-assessment form.as they did the year before.

DRS1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81866581#Comment_81866581

This is a confusing story. I think a lot of that confusion is because you seem to be talking about getting a PAPER tax return whereas most people who do self assessment do it online. So Yes the people who do self assessment online are registered and Yes they can log on to do the return and no they don't get a PAPER form to fill in. What they do get is a letter (maybe in their online personal tax account) saying You have to do a tax return this year. They get that in April at the start of the year If you never got that letter then you are not obliged to do a return for 24/5.

But you have over £10k of savings interest outside an ISA so you are obliged to tell HMRC that you need to do a tax return for 24/5. You really do need to call them to work out what you should be doing.

I have to admit I do wonder if what you received for 23/4 was a SIMPLE Assessment not a self assessment. That is a common way for HMRC to tell you that you owe them tax because of unpaid tax on savings interest. Those assessments usually arrive in November/December but some are said to be coming later and later. Perhaps you are due to get one soon?

DRS1

Oh and the usual advice for phoning HMRC is to do it early in the morning - 8AM.