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Original poster

Tax confusion (can anyone help? panicking)

54 replies

TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 13:35

Hi all. Firstly, I do apologise as I'm posting here for traffic - is there a tax section that I can post on instead?

If not, is there anyone that can help please? I owe tax and I'm slightly panicking as I have no idea where it's from. I appreciate it's difficult without documents but I can give dates and figures. HMRC aren't open until tomorrow and I'm working all week with only a 30 minute break so I might not get time to phone them until the weekend.

Thank you...

OP posts:
user15364596354862 · 03/01/2022 13:36

Why do you think that you owe tax?

Exasperatedhousehunter · 03/01/2022 13:39

Yeah why do you think you owe it? I hope it’s not through one of these scam phone calls.

user15364596354862 · 03/01/2022 13:40

@Exasperatedhousehunter

Yeah why do you think you owe it? I hope it’s not through one of these scam phone calls.
That's certainly what I was wondering tbh.
Lockheart · 03/01/2022 13:40

Who has told you that you owe tax? What income do you have that isn't already taxed through PAYE?

Original poster
TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 13:43

I occasionally look at my personal tax account online and it saids it on there @user15364596354862. Around two months ago I looked and it said that I owed HMRC £50 and that my tax free amount would be reduced until it had been paid back and I've just checked it this morning and it now saids I owe £520 which will be collected every month up until the 5th April 2022 🤷🏼‍♀️ it's not a huge amount I know, but paying this back on top of tax and NI is a lot for me and I'm really worried and confused...

OP posts:
NoWordForFluffy · 03/01/2022 13:43

If you log onto your HMRC account, it will tell you a) if you owe tax and b) when from. You need to do that and see what is said.

Sparklesocks · 03/01/2022 13:44

Did you get a letter from HMRC?

Jota67 · 03/01/2022 13:44

Don't panic. You have til 31 January to pay/set up repayment plan to pay in instalments.

Have you filed a tax return ?

Log on to HMRC and check your status

NoWordForFluffy · 03/01/2022 13:44

Cross post. Have you checked the figures? How is the owed amount increasing? When does it say the debt is from?

LeroyJenkinssss · 03/01/2022 13:45

It’s relatively simple to work out if you only have one employment and can be taken from next years pay through a change in tax code.

But as above it’s extremely common scam although apparently HMRC owe me and just need my card number…

Original poster
TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 13:45

It doesn't say where/when it's from @NoWordForFluffy .. just the amount that is owed...

@Jota67 I thought only self employed people filled out tax returns? I'm in an employed position...

OP posts:
HollowTalk · 03/01/2022 13:46

Is this on the HMRC site? Check you're entering the site name yourself rather than clicking on a link. Why would HMRC send you a message like that? Surely they would send a letter?

Was this message received by text? If so there are tons of scammers out there and they can make it look as though HMRC sent it.

Log on to the HMRC site and see what it says there.

LeroyJenkinssss · 03/01/2022 13:47

What tax codes changes have you had?

Sparklesocks · 03/01/2022 13:49

Did you recently move jobs and your previous employer hasn’t updated their records? I had it once where HMRC thought I was still employed by my previous company as well as my current one, so their system thought I owed tax for two jobs.

Oblomov22 · 03/01/2022 13:50

I had similar but when I rang them it was a marriage allowance that had been miscalculated, so once that was cancelled it was fine.

imnottoofussed · 03/01/2022 13:51

They have an online chat. If you log into your tax account it should appear there and you can sort it out during work/lunch tomorrow

Aprilx · 03/01/2022 13:54

@TaxTaxTax25

It doesn't say where/when it's from *@NoWordForFluffy* .. just the amount that is owed...

@Jota67 I thought only self employed people filled out tax returns? I'm in an employed position...

No, there are all kinds of reasons why people fill out tax returns and definitely not limited to self employed only.

But you will need to provide more information if you want anyone on here to help you.

What can you see? What does your YTD payslip say? What does last years P60 say? (By “say” I mean what was your gross pay and what were the deductions). Do you have one job or two or more jobs?

NoWordForFluffy · 03/01/2022 13:54

@TaxTaxTax25 it absolutely will say when it's from somewhere. Look through your past years to see if it says there's a shortfall?

I ended up owing tax two years running when I change jobs during the tax year, as for some reason pay roll / RTI failed to pick up on the shortfall (being paid twice in the same month due to first and last pay dates being together, and both pay rolls giving me my full allowance) in the following months. Could it be something like that?

RB68 · 03/01/2022 14:04

It could also be if your earnings last yr went over the limit for child benefit and it needs to be paid back

There is no urgency as they have told you what they are doing and its not situation that might incur a fine. Phone them when you can and ask them to layout what income they have you down for last year and why this amount is owing.

It could be a number f things by the sounds of it

  1. Change of job cock up by employers/hmrc
  2. Some sort of misunderstanding
  3. Income over threshold for Child benefit payments and they are repaying themselves
  4. Some sort of payroll cock up that needs adjustment e.g. due to a bonus or just poor payroll admin
Original poster
TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 14:07

It is on the HMRC gov website so definitely genuine and no scams.. I can see my entire employment history on there, payments etc...

I will try and give a breakdown starting from 2019 (I don't think there's any point in going all the way back to my first job?) it may or may not help... I did change jobs a couple times last year so I'm wondering if this has confused HMRC...

Dec 2019 - 31st August 2021
One job, full time employment
Last pay date - 7th September
Received a tax refund in October (because I had to use my car for travel purposes and my employer only paid 25p per mile)
P45 end date is August 2021 (correct) but online account saids April 2022 (incorrect)

23rd August - 1st September 2021
One job full time
One off payment of £534 as I didn't stay long.
Pay date - 27th September
P45/online account end date are both correct

27th September - 12th November 2021
One job full time
Last pay date - 26th November
P45/online account end date are both correct

New job
14th December -
Paid on the 16th December (early due to Xmas) normally paid on the 27th. Earnings weren't submitted until the 27th (I've checked)
Didn't have time to provide my P45 or complete a starter check list so I paid emergency tax and my current tax code is CBR

Is that helpful? I can't think of any more information ...

OP posts:
Original poster
TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 14:10

Maybe I'm panicking for no reason but I'm worried that their going to take an extra £100-£200 off me a month which I really can't afford @RB68

OP posts:
Original poster
TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 14:12

@NoWordForFluffy I've looked through them but it only shows shortfalls for NI not tax... ?

OP posts:
foodaddict21 · 03/01/2022 14:21

You just need to call them OP. It may be they've assumed you will owe X but you won't.

Are there any tax coding notices online? They usually include an explanation of any changes.

Original poster
TaxTaxTax25 · 03/01/2022 14:25

Yes I do plan too @foodaddict21 but it's difficult during the week as I work and there waiting times can be long. I might not be able to call them until the weekend and I don't want to be worrying all week! I just hoped someone on here might be able to help and explain things if I provided information...

OP posts:
Rainbowshine · 03/01/2022 14:27

My previous employer made a mistake and I had a backlog of £1000 to pay from having a company car for a short time. I was on maternity leave on SMP and then no pay. HMRC agreed that I wouldn’t start repaying until I was earning over the minimum wage and then had 3 years to repay through an adjustment to my personal allowance and tax code, so it was spread out. Honestly just call them and ask for them to explain and sort out a payment plan.