HMRC self assessments and difficulty contacting them
Discussion
I read with interest this article the other day, and it does feel hard to not to get tin foil hat conspiracy like about it. (I do acknowledge it's their busiest time of year mind) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4zjnd2llyo
I'm owed a few thousand in self assessment refund and I've heard nothing since requesting the refund in mid December (not even a receipt of request for refund email which seems odd) and have since had a nightmare trying to get hold of them, endless waits on the phone after being directed to the web chat which then informs me every time that the 'web chat advisor is unavailable'.
Surely there's got to be a better way for them to operate and communicate than this endless game, bet the gits aren't paying me daily interest like they charge when I owe them money.
Anyone found a quicker/better way of hacking into the matrix?
I'm owed a few thousand in self assessment refund and I've heard nothing since requesting the refund in mid December (not even a receipt of request for refund email which seems odd) and have since had a nightmare trying to get hold of them, endless waits on the phone after being directed to the web chat which then informs me every time that the 'web chat advisor is unavailable'.
Surely there's got to be a better way for them to operate and communicate than this endless game, bet the gits aren't paying me daily interest like they charge when I owe them money.
Anyone found a quicker/better way of hacking into the matrix?
You need to look at the calendar. HMRC and taxpayers have two crucial deadlines, 31 January (Self Assessment) and 5 April (year end). Your chances of getting anywhere with HMRC at the end of January or at end of March are almost precisely zero, they are simply overwhelmed by people who've left everything to the last minute..
It doesn't sound as though your enquiry is "time critical" so your best IMO is to wait until mid-February and then see if you can get through to them.
Some tax refunds are mind-bendingly slow to materialise.
It doesn't sound as though your enquiry is "time critical" so your best IMO is to wait until mid-February and then see if you can get through to them.
Some tax refunds are mind-bendingly slow to materialise.
I waited 10 months for a pension relief refund via a letter.. I raised a complaint after not receiving a reply as suggested by this link.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-exp...
When they called re complaint they were very apologetic but have no staff to deal with enquiries. They read through notes and approved refund over the phone, money arrived 2 weeks later.
Check date and raise complaint, someone will eventually review.
For return submitted 10 days ago the refund has arrived in bank account.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-exp...
When they called re complaint they were very apologetic but have no staff to deal with enquiries. They read through notes and approved refund over the phone, money arrived 2 weeks later.
Check date and raise complaint, someone will eventually review.
For return submitted 10 days ago the refund has arrived in bank account.
It is absolute b
ks and a disgrace in 2025. You're basically unable to get hold of them for several months of the year whether that's phone or webchat. Can't email anyone. And these are the same idiots who continually muck up tax codes and demand money instantly even when it's their mistake.
ks and a disgrace in 2025. You're basically unable to get hold of them for several months of the year whether that's phone or webchat. Can't email anyone. And these are the same idiots who continually muck up tax codes and demand money instantly even when it's their mistake.Cyder said:
I read with interest this article the other day, and it does feel hard to not to get tin foil hat conspiracy like about it. (I do acknowledge it's their busiest time of year mind) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4zjnd2llyo
I'm owed a few thousand in self assessment refund and I've heard nothing since requesting the refund in mid December (not even a receipt of request for refund email which seems odd) and have since had a nightmare trying to get hold of them, endless waits on the phone after being directed to the web chat which then informs me every time that the 'web chat advisor is unavailable'.
Surely there's got to be a better way for them to operate and communicate than this endless game, bet the gits aren't paying me daily interest like they charge when I owe them money.
Anyone found a quicker/better way of hacking into the matrix?
I actually was due a refund around then also got no info and phones up to ask when it was due etc and they did it over the phone, still took 10 days to process. Complete joke as bank transfer takes under an hour to process via personnel banking accounts.I'm owed a few thousand in self assessment refund and I've heard nothing since requesting the refund in mid December (not even a receipt of request for refund email which seems odd) and have since had a nightmare trying to get hold of them, endless waits on the phone after being directed to the web chat which then informs me every time that the 'web chat advisor is unavailable'.
Surely there's got to be a better way for them to operate and communicate than this endless game, bet the gits aren't paying me daily interest like they charge when I owe them money.
Anyone found a quicker/better way of hacking into the matrix?
sja360 said:
Cyder said:
I read with interest this article the other day, and it does feel hard to not to get tin foil hat conspiracy like about it. (I do acknowledge it's their busiest time of year mind) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4zjnd2llyo
I'm owed a few thousand in self assessment refund and I've heard nothing since requesting the refund in mid December (not even a receipt of request for refund email which seems odd) and have since had a nightmare trying to get hold of them, endless waits on the phone after being directed to the web chat which then informs me every time that the 'web chat advisor is unavailable'.
Surely there's got to be a better way for them to operate and communicate than this endless game, bet the gits aren't paying me daily interest like they charge when I owe them money.
Anyone found a quicker/better way of hacking into the matrix?
I actually was due a refund around then also got no info and phones up to ask when it was due etc and they did it over the phone, still took 10 days to process. Complete joke as bank transfer takes under an hour to process via personnel banking accounts.I'm owed a few thousand in self assessment refund and I've heard nothing since requesting the refund in mid December (not even a receipt of request for refund email which seems odd) and have since had a nightmare trying to get hold of them, endless waits on the phone after being directed to the web chat which then informs me every time that the 'web chat advisor is unavailable'.
Surely there's got to be a better way for them to operate and communicate than this endless game, bet the gits aren't paying me daily interest like they charge when I owe them money.
Anyone found a quicker/better way of hacking into the matrix?
I have a potentially dumb question.
If HMRC are all knowing and have access to what interest you have earned through the banks (who apparently report this to HMRC) or from dividends/cgt from and stocks (again the brokers report this information to HMRC through annual tax certificates), why can't HMRC just have this data populated in the SA and request you to check the figures?!
Is this because they don't have this info and want to kid you to think they do lest you do any dodgy reporting and instead do the heavy lifting for them?
If HMRC are all knowing and have access to what interest you have earned through the banks (who apparently report this to HMRC) or from dividends/cgt from and stocks (again the brokers report this information to HMRC through annual tax certificates), why can't HMRC just have this data populated in the SA and request you to check the figures?!
Is this because they don't have this info and want to kid you to think they do lest you do any dodgy reporting and instead do the heavy lifting for them?
Why is it that every bloody time I do a self assessment (which is every year) I always end up apparently owing HMRC somewhere approaching £1000 in underpaid tax? I seem to remember that they used to collect this through your PAYE tax code, but now they demand payment by 31st January. Why can't they collect the extra via my tax code?
Edited by LunarOne on Wednesday 29th January 20:25
ujio said:
I have a potentially dumb question.
If HMRC are all knowing and have access to what interest you have earned through the banks (who apparently report this to HMRC) or from dividends/cgt from and stocks (again the brokers report this information to HMRC through annual tax certificates), why can't HMRC just have this data populated in the SA and request you to check the figures?!
Is this because they don't have this info and want to kid you to think they do lest you do any dodgy reporting and instead do the heavy lifting for them?
This is the really dumb part. I only do SA because of the HICBC. When I log onto do my SA every year, it automatically populates a) my total PAYE salary, and b) my total Child Benefit received. Yet I still have to actually submit the SA every year even though I make no amendments to any of the auto-populated data, just click through and hit Submit.If HMRC are all knowing and have access to what interest you have earned through the banks (who apparently report this to HMRC) or from dividends/cgt from and stocks (again the brokers report this information to HMRC through annual tax certificates), why can't HMRC just have this data populated in the SA and request you to check the figures?!
Is this because they don't have this info and want to kid you to think they do lest you do any dodgy reporting and instead do the heavy lifting for them?
LunarOne said:
Why is it that every bloody time I do a salf assessment (which is every year) I always end up apparently HMRC somewhere approaching £1000 in underpaid tax? I seem to remember that they used to collect this through your PAYE tax code, but now they demand payment by 31st January. Why can't they collect the extra via my tax code?
If you're still PAYE, owe less than £3k and submit online return by 30th December you have option for them to adjust your tax code to claim additional tax. Don't assume as I did it is end of December!
ujio said:
I have a potentially dumb question.
If HMRC are all knowing and have access to what interest you have earned through the banks (who apparently report this to HMRC) or from dividends/cgt from and stocks (again the brokers report this information to HMRC through annual tax certificates), why can't HMRC just have this data populated in the SA and request you to check the figures?!
Is this because they don't have this info and want to kid you to think they do lest you do any dodgy reporting and instead do the heavy lifting for them?
My guess is that they have the info in a separate database and it's only if they check your SA that they would try to match up what you've put on your return against what they've been told elsewhere.If HMRC are all knowing and have access to what interest you have earned through the banks (who apparently report this to HMRC) or from dividends/cgt from and stocks (again the brokers report this information to HMRC through annual tax certificates), why can't HMRC just have this data populated in the SA and request you to check the figures?!
Is this because they don't have this info and want to kid you to think they do lest you do any dodgy reporting and instead do the heavy lifting for them?
Tankrizzo said:
This is the really dumb part. I only do SA because of the HICBC. When I log onto do my SA every year, it automatically populates a) my total PAYE salary, and b) my total Child Benefit received. Yet I still have to actually submit the SA every year even though I make no amendments to any of the auto-populated data, just click through and hit Submit.
Same here. It is an absolute pain in the arse.I was told that I was due a rebate last year, but I heard nothing more from them until receiving the demands "to complete my tax return". These emails are apparently just sent out to everybody who has ever completed a tax return in the past and not only to those who have not completed the latest one.
jollysoutherner said:
LunarOne said:
Why is it that every bloody time I do a salf assessment (which is every year) I always end up apparently HMRC somewhere approaching £1000 in underpaid tax? I seem to remember that they used to collect this through your PAYE tax code, but now they demand payment by 31st January. Why can't they collect the extra via my tax code?
If you're still PAYE, owe less than £3k and submit online return by 30th December you have option for them to adjust your tax code to claim additional tax. Don't assume as I did it is end of December!
Did mine & wife’s SA’s on the Friday between Christmas and New Year. I’d overpaid our “on account” amounts so I was hoping there would be chunky refunds. Oddly the first thing it told me before I started the form was that if I was due a refund I’d have to request it and submit identity info, even though we've both done SA for years. As I went through the SA the bit where you tell it where to send your refund was missing.
Wife’s was all fine, no such request and I filled in the bank info as normal.
SA’s were confirmed as accepted over that weekend, surprisingly, and I requested my refund and did the identity stuff. Refunds were confirmed as issued a few days later and in the bank a few days after that, wife’s first on 3rd Jan then mine on 7th. They paid a decent amount of interest up to 31st Jan, and it’s tax free!
Wife’s was all fine, no such request and I filled in the bank info as normal.
SA’s were confirmed as accepted over that weekend, surprisingly, and I requested my refund and did the identity stuff. Refunds were confirmed as issued a few days later and in the bank a few days after that, wife’s first on 3rd Jan then mine on 7th. They paid a decent amount of interest up to 31st Jan, and it’s tax free!
I can't help wondering what people have been so busy doing between 6 April 2024 and 31 January 2025.
It's not as if the task changes over time. Once 6 April arrives everything is fixed and all the P60s and interest statements etc are usually issued by the end of May latest.
Mind you, we know EricMc's wealthy clients enjoy l-o-n-g and exotic summer holidays!
It's not as if the task changes over time. Once 6 April arrives everything is fixed and all the P60s and interest statements etc are usually issued by the end of May latest.
Mind you, we know EricMc's wealthy clients enjoy l-o-n-g and exotic summer holidays!
One of the things that irritates me is that when you submit your self assessment it then calculates the tax you owe including payments in advance for next year, yet it doesn't subtract the payments in advance that you made in the previous year, you know the tax they have had for over 6 months!
Oh that and the fact that the HMRC are no help whatsoever.
Oh that and the fact that the HMRC are no help whatsoever.
Enut said:
One of the things that irritates me is that when you submit your self assessment it then calculates the tax you owe including payments in advance for next year, yet it doesn't subtract the payments in advance that you made in the previous year, you know the tax they have had for over 6 months!
Oh that and the fact that the HMRC are no help whatsoever.
The first time I'd done payments on account that did baffle me for a while, and it's not completely obvious how much you've paid on account if it was mixed in with balancing payments.Oh that and the fact that the HMRC are no help whatsoever.
Enut said:
One of the things that irritates me is that when you submit your self assessment it then calculates the tax you owe including payments in advance for next year, yet it doesn't subtract the payments in advance that you made in the previous year, you know the tax they have had for over 6 months!
Payments on account are simply there to make it a pay-as-you-go system as opposed to a pay-after-the-event system.It's much like CGT on residential property which is now "report and pay" as opposed to "pay a year or two later".
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