Help - Absurd tax demand and tax office are "too busy" to deal

missus_miggins_2

Really worried about this one.

I have a tax demand for £10,000 which I don't owe. I have been talking to a really helpful chap at my local tax office who say this is clearly wrong and he can prove it as I have handed all the documents to him personally at the Euston Road tax office (have proof of this). However, when I phoned him, he said they seem to be 'too busy to process anything' at the moment. He seems as exasperated as I am.

I have a colleague who owes a "mere" £900 more than he was expecting to pay (and is being processed by the same office) and was told the same.

Is anyone else having the same nightmare?

This has escalated to the point at which I have been landed with a bad credit rating for supposed "non payment" but I am in constant contact with the Inland Revenue people and have had several meetings in person. I keep offering to pay a reasonable amount but want a proper bill first. Which they won't give me. My estimated tax bill - to cut a long story short - was that the IR owed me £600. Not that I owed them £10,000.

The problem seems to be that the Inland Revenue have too few staff to deal with the paperwork and we are bearing the brunt.

a) I have an accountant

b) I am talking to the "account manager" in person, yeay even unto two meetings at 7.30am

c) I have produced the appropriate paperwork and have numerous copies

I would very much appreciate a bit of help about this, or even like to hear from some companions in misery!

amf

Welcom to MSE missus_miggins:)

If what you say is absolutely correct then I would not hesitate to write a letter of complaint to my MP, if I was in your shoes. HMRC does seem to sit up and take notice of such complaints.

In your letter I suggest that you be factual, give as much (relevant) detail as possible and, if the HMRC failures have resulted in additional accountancy fees, intimate a claim for costs incurred.

Good luck:)

Welshlassie

I agree with amf. When I had the reverse problem several years ago (they owed me £1,500) and were too busy to deal with it I wrote to them giving them 14 days to resolve the situation otherwise I was involving my MP and had the money within a week. If they don't respond to this send a copy of the letter to your MP and ask them to get involved.

missus_miggins_2

... well, you probaby won't believe this one!

The IR had allocated me a new Unique Tax Reference a few years ago for no apparent reason - not identity fraud, just weird computers. I had though this was dead and buried but no!

They had filed and accepted all my stuff on my real UTR and had continued to chase 'unfiled returns' on the other one, which was of course the same name and address.

Well, great. Things are sorted out with the tax office now but my credit rating has been damaged by this whole fiasco. I know the process of contacting Experion etc. thanks to this website but what a bloody nuisance this whole thing has been and will continue to be for a while. My (unused) overdraft limit has been withdrawn by the bank. My credit card limit (not maxed) has been reduced.

What a bleedin' pest. Now for bureaucratical hell for the next few months.

Chin up!