Bl00dy taxman

[ClunkintheUK]

Payroll at work has messed up, my PAYE has not been high enough last year, i started a new job June last year, but they ignored my P60 and assumed I had not earned anything previously.

The upshot of this is I apparently owe the tax man a months pay. Gone. I get paid next Friday, and that entire paycheck, before rent, phone bill, travel costs, petrol or anything else disappears. Gone. Nothing. Just like that.

There's not really a lot to be done about it, but I really needed to have a rant.

[punyXpress]

Lean on your payroll dept. & tell them to sort out your cashflow!

[Littlepeahead]

I thought they could split the amount over one or two years so you pay it off a little each month from your pay packet. It's not as though you have willfully avoided paying tax.

They have messed mine up for last year somehow too. First of all sent me a letter saying I owed them £60 for underpayment of tax on medical insurance - fair enough - but then a week later sent me a cheque for £180 refund for over payment of tax on the same medical insurance. After holding on the phone for 25 minutes to speak to someone they denied all knowledge of the first letter and couldn't explain how I had overpaid so much either as my medical insurance is £1000 this year same as last year. So not much help really - but I'm not complaining about the rebate.

Check again and see if you can do it in installments.

[EssexDave]

PMed

[ClunkintheUK]

Cheers Dave. Have read it, some useful stuff there.

Its mostly annoying though as I have been saving hard for a house deposit and maybe another bike and this just changes all my plans suddenly, and when I was in the final stretch.

[maviczap]

Not really the taxman's fault is it? Its your pay team who have cocked things up, so they can ease your burden?

[PyroUK]

Our company cocked a lot of our tax codes up in the last two years, HMRC *should* be able to amend your tax code to recoup over the next year.

Depends entirely on whether or not you get a numpty on the other end of the phone.

Hope you get it sorted mate!

[EssexDave]

Our company cocked a lot of our tax codes up in the last two years, HMRC *should* be able to amend your tax code to recoup over the next year.

Depends entirely on whether or not you get a numpty on the other end of the phone.

Hope you get it sorted mate!

My experience with the revenue is if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. Wait until you get the answer you want, get it in writing and you're good to go generally speaking.

Half of the people don't know what they're talking about.

[ClunkintheUK]

No, I know its not strictly the taxman's fault. Yeah, trying to get hold of my payroll team. I have no problem (morally speaking) paying the tax I owe. The problem is often figuring out that tax I owe.

[PyroUK]

My experience with the revenue is if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. Wait until you get the answer you want, get it in writing and you're good to go generally speaking.

Half of the people don't know what they're talking about.

So true! It's a miracle any one who is self employed etc doesn't get jailed for avoidance/evasion (which ever it is) etc because HMRC don't know their a holes from elbows!

Had a *simple* query re VAT for work and it took about 3 days of phone calls and still couldn't get an answer!

[ClunkintheUK]

My experience with the revenue is if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again. Wait until you get the answer you want, get it in writing and you're good to go generally speaking.

Half of the people don't know what they're talking about.

NO I don't really konw what I am talking about when it comes to tax either. I also haven't managed to go a week in the last 4 months without some administrative matter or other that has taken up my limited spare time.

[EssexDave]

So true! It's a miracle any one who is self employed etc doesn't get jailed for avoidance/evasion (which ever it is) etc because HMRC don't know their a holes from elbows!

Had a *simple* query re VAT for work and it took about 3 days of phone calls and still couldn't get an answer!

This is what I'm living off at the minute.

[nikon70]

I feel your pain...

[ClunkintheUK]

Ok, so calmed down a bit. They will amend next years tax code to recover it. so its not a big lump sum out. It was apparently some computer system which didn't know I had previous employment. I think the error was an incompetent payroll department in my previous employment. Par for the course for them really. Ironically they had recieved taxpayers money.

[Bibio]

ok so i don't know much about PAYE.

but i always thought that it was done on a month to month basis and all they done was look at earnings then look up the sheet to find out what you pay. unless your hovering on the higher tax bracket i see no reason that your previous employment should make a difference. you don't get paid full wages till you hit your code limit then get whacked for tax, it's spread out over the financial year. so if you go over the threshold on any given month then you get whacked for that threshold.

[ClunkintheUK]

It turns out that the problem was the the taxman told my employer that I had no previous earnings when I moved, so had a tax code accordingly. so I reused some of my tax allowance. Also the difference pushed me through a tax bracket with the rest of my pay. Grr. on the plus side, the taxman takes it back by changing my tax code next year. So, yeah, not ideal, but handled pretty well. I'll give em that.

[Bibio]

i still don't get it as you would have been taxed accordingly on your last job pay. ok so your accumulative may have gone over the threshold up to the next tax bracket but you only pay that threshold tax on what ever you make over that threshold.

aahhh wait i think the penny has dropped.. it's like paying tax on overtime.

yes i is stupid :-)

[maviczap]

So true! It's a miracle any one who is self employed etc doesn't get jailed for avoidance/evasion (which ever it is) etc because HMRC don't know their a holes from elbows!

Had a *simple* query re VAT for work and it took about 3 days of phone calls and still couldn't get an answer!

That's the problem when you shut all the local offices & rely on call centers to manage your enquiries.

The staff don't have the on the job experience & are just working from a script.

Before you used to be able to see the same person in the local office, be it IR or HMC&E, and then the merged HMRC - to solve any problems.

But hey call centres can do all of that can't they?

That's progress

[Richie]

HMCR.... say no more.....


bunch of ...... c word expletives.

[ClunkintheUK]

Ok, mine was a simple one, but I have always found HMRC to be one of the better government departments to deal with. I say always, its a few rebates at uni from paying tax on my summer job wages and this. But every rebate the check was sent with the original letter. And a 15 minute call yesterday completely cleared up where the error occured (computer error having recieved bad or untimely data from my previous employer). The guy at the other end knew what he was about.

Long my this continue in my life. (but I doubt it just by law of averages).

Bib there was effectively a chunk on my new wages I didn't pay tax on but should have done, and another chunk that I didn't pay a high enough rate of tax on.

[Littlepeahead]

That's the thing about my call, I spoke to a guy who I thought knew what he was talking about until he said they hadn't sent me the first letter I mentioned. Now how can they not have a record of all the letters they have sent me?