[Cafe.Racer]

Hi,

Tax office have sent me P800s going back to 2007/2008 for underpaid tax.

I'm PAYE, company tell me that they've submitted the correct information, Tax office are stonewalling.

Anyone a tax advisor?

[prt71]

Exactly the same here, got demand for £4700 from 2007/8.

It all came down to them sending me idiotic codings deciding I had got rid of my company car and private health care when I hadn't. I queried the figures and they subsequently decided I owed them £2100 instead.

However a twist in the tale is that they've suddenly realised they haven't given me higher rate tax relief on my personal pensions, they now think they might owe me, incompetence is terrifying.

[JLR1969]

I have had a lot of dealings and they are a total disaster, its a disgrace that they operate in such a way.

If they were a private company they would have gone out of business years ago.

[dxb335d]

Fackin' jokers! Hope you get it sorted CR!

[chris330D]

Got exactly the same here, PAYE but they say I owe £2,300 over the last three years. Advice i have been given is to write back telling them that their calcs are wrong as they were notified by my company, the mistake is theirs. Worth a try I suppose.

[chrisbin]

Had issues with them myself......during one, 30 minute call (!) had my middle name queried and was told that I had a student loan........I told them they had to be joking....I'm 47 FFS!!!!

[Cafe.Racer]

All sounds very similar, I've read the same that if it's their fault that you tell them so.

Lady I spoke to today was having non of it, though - just stonewalling, wouldn't entertain that it was possibly a mistake, and explain how I could find out, just wouldn't entertain it!

[RCUK]

Currently going through this myself.... £3700 owed here... apparently.

Not entirely sure how - but been trying to sort this mess out since December. Lady im dealing with is actually pretty fair etc, so hopefully this will get resolved.

Not nice owing the tax man

[Swiller]

put it in writing.
the deal is, they can legtimately claim back underpayments if its within 12 months after the end of tax year. they cannot claim it back if you had done everything correctly and it is over 12 months.
check the tax code on your payslips, if it is a br code, thats why they are claiming.
mine is 5k due to being on an emergency tax code for 3 years and only paying 20 percent.

[Cafe.Racer]

Cheers swiller - is that written down anywhere?

[YvesD]

With the greatest respect to any HMRC Employees on here, they really dont know what they are doing half the time with PAYE matters.

Demand that they prove their calculations and legal entitlement 1st off and be prepared for years of nonsense and red tape

Bottom line, you probably dont owe it.

[Captain Chaos]

Originally Posted by Swiller

put it in writing.
the deal is, they can legtimately claim back underpayments if its within 12 months after the end of tax year. they cannot claim it back if you had done everything correctly and it is over 12 months.

Almost. You have to keep all receipts and information relating to tax for 30 months after the end of the financial year, so beyond that you can claim that they have no provided you the ability to properly check their figures. That's 2007/08 at the latest, which is the one they've now decided to audit and send P800s out on. Legally they can claim back as far as they want - it's just a matter of fighting it, and the best way of acting on the 30-month period is based upon the 'Our Charter' document they have on their HMRC website.

WRT the BR coding, yep that's what all the big money is being claimed for. Probably your best bet is to go with the aforementioned for 2007/08, then citing company incomeptence for all 3 years as the primary clause (whereby the company will have to pay the bill if HMRC agree) and negligence of HMRC as a secondary clause (whereby the tax will be written off - really better it be paid, just by the people that caused the problem not you).

There's a two month waiting list on every letter, so it's going to take a while, but don't ever deal with it by telephone - only call them to tell them that you've sent a letter and they're to wait for it and not act before they've responded.

There's literally hundreds of documents online about it, but moneysavingexpert.com link to some of the most useful stuff.