Fckucking HM revenue & customs

[tegwin]

So.. due to me being a little bit pre-ocupied I didnt notice that the thieves at HMRC had not been giving me my tax free allowence since 2005!... Quite why they had not figured this out and corrected it is beyond me!

Anyway... I spent quite considerable time sorting out the paperwork to send to them in order to get the error corrected...

To my amazemenet the silly bunch of halfwhits managed to calculate the tax refund correctly. However they obviously cant read as they addressed the return letter and cheque to someone with a name similar to mine, but not quite.... I mean seriously.. how hard is to to spell someones name properly! Infact, if I spelt a clients name wrong I would get the boot!

So, it looks like I have to return their cheque and request another one... I am informed that this wont happen until the end of July when their new computer system is activated...(typical HM excuse!)

The money they incorrectly took from me ammounts to a large(ish) sum... can I claim for the interest off this money for the period between 2005-2009? it would not ammount to much, but its the principle of the thing!

And can I also claim interest from now until they sort me out with the correct cheque/name?

Its so frustrating, if I underpaid tax they would send me to jail... but its ok for them to take more than they are entitled to.. and then cockup the refund!

[Eric Mc]

The Revenue are undergoing a MASSIVE computer shake up on their PAYE section at the moment. So their excuse is valid - if annoying.

Normally the Revenue will give you interest on overpaid tax - just make sure they give you the overpayment back in the form of a cheque, not an adjustment to your current tax code. Amending a tax code is a rather sneaky method used by the Revenue as they NEVER include interest when using this method.

However, it can work out in your favour to you owe THEM money.

Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 19th June 11:05

[SGirl]

Eric Mc said:

Normally the Revenue will give you interest on overpaid tax

They do indeed. However, these aren't normal times.

They just repaid me a significant amount of money, which they sat on for 3 months after working out I was due a refund while it underwent manual checks, apparently. Interest paid: £0.

[tegwin]

They do indeed. However, these aren't normal times


I fail to see how these being "not normal times" would have any effect on them paying the interest. Not doing so is theft in my eyes. If they do not I think a small claims court action might be required?

[Invisible man]

My return this tax year will have all the details blacked out......for my own security of course

[SGirl]

tegwin said:

I fail to see how these being "not normal times" would have any effect on them paying the interest. Not doing so is theft in my eyes. If they do not I think a small claims court action might be required?

Well, yes. They pay BoE base rate, which is/was 0.1%, or something. So they probably felt it wasn't worth adding the amount?

TBH I'd rather not query it unless we were talking hundreds of pounds. It's not worth the potential hassle. It took long enough to get them to part with the cash as it was!

Edited by SGirl on Friday 19th June 12:38

[tegwin]

SGirl said:

tegwin said:

I fail to see how these being "not normal times" would have any effect on them paying the interest. Not doing so is theft in my eyes. If they do not I think a small claims court action might be required?

Well, yes. They pay BoE base rate, which is/was 0.1%, or something. So they probably felt it wasn't worth adding the amount?

TBH I'd rather not query it unless we were talking hundreds of pounds. It's not worth the potential hassle. It took long enough to get them to part with the cash as it was!

Edited by SGirl on Friday 19th June 12:38

This is true..

But... given the fact that the BOE rate was not .1% last year, or the year before... there should be interest from those years on the ammount or tax accrued then.... Yes it will only be around £20... but as I said, its the principle of the thing. If I am expected to jump through hoops every time I make a mistake... so should they!

[SGirl]

tegwin said:

This is true..

But... given the fact that the BOE rate was not .1% last year, or the year before... there should be interest from those years on the ammount or tax accrued then.... Yes it will only be around £20... but as I said, its the principle of the thing. If I am expected to jump through hoops every time I make a mistake... so should they!

Well... asking them to apply the interest won't cost you anything, so it's always worth asking. The potential difficulty is that this may delay your claim still further, especially since most tax repayments seem to be subject to delays at the moment. How long can you afford to wait for them to cough up?

[grahamw48]

As an ex-swivel servant I can tell you that baiting them will just have you transferred to the 'pending' tray.